Auston Matthews admits to being frustrated with his line failing to produce
It's been an unusually rough 7-game stretch for Auston Matthews, with the former 2-time Rocket Richard Trophy and former Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award winner having scored just 1 goal and 2 assists over that stretch.
Matthews came out of the gates red hot, scoring hat tricks in back-to-back games to open the season, with a 3rd hat trick coming on November 4th against the Buffalo Sabres, but since that time, it's been tough sledding for not only Matthews, but his line as well.
When Tyler Bertuzzi was demoted to the 2nd line and found tremendous chemistry with John Tavares and William Nylander, Matthew Knies received a look with Matthews and Marner on the top line. The trio had put together some tremendous shifts and a few good games, but as with anything, it's going to take some time to develop the chemistry needed to find that consistency and get used to whether the other guys are going to be on the ice.
Following a tough loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, Matthews was asked how he feels about his line right now. He was very open and honest with his response, admitting that there is some frustration there right now.
Matthews also spoke about how it's been playing with fellow Arizona product Matthew Knies. He took good care of his rookie teammate in the interview, pumping his tires and acknowledging that the assignments he's drawing are not easy on a first-year player.
The hope here is that this line can begin to generate chances with a little more regularity and can really begin to ramp up their play as we reach the quarter-mark of the season here. From here, it's more about building as much momentum as they can over these next few games in an attempt to increase their confidence level as a trio. As we've seen in the past a confident Matthews-Marner tandem can do some real damange. It's on Knies to just keep going to the right areas of the ice now and hopefully that line will be rewarded here sooner than later.
Source: NHL.com/MapleLeafs
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 26 | 340 ANSWERS Auston Matthews admits to being frustrated with his line failing to produce Should the Leafs keep the top line together or move some bodies around to help create some momentum? | ||
| Move pieces around | 225 | 66.2 % |
| Just keep them together to build chemistry | 81 | 23.8 % |
| Not sure | 34 | 10 % |
| List of polls | ||
