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Auston Matthews has some harsh words for the Leafs following 9-3 beatdown

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Ryan Smitheram
December 22, 2023  (8:37)
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The Toronto Maple Leafs were on the receiving end of an absolute beat down last night at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres, losing 9-3. It was not pretty in any regard, aside from the fact that Auston Matthews scored a ridiculous spin-o-rama type goal to tie the game at one in the first. It was not just Ilya Samsonov and/or Martin Jones that were bad, the entire team was bad and following the game, Matthews didn't mince words when it came to describing the game.

"Embarrassing is probably the right word to use from start to finish, top to bottom, not nearly good enough. Just a bad hockey game from our team. Collectively, probably one of the worst games since I have been here. It's hard to pinpoint one thing. I think it was all just disappointing."

Matthews has been with the Leafs since the 2016-17 season and has been on some bad teams, so for him to call this the worst game since he entered the league means that it was pretty bad. It was the first time in the Sheldon Keefe and Matthews era that they have given up 9 goals, with the last time being in 2014 against the Nashville Predators.

The Leafs won't have much time to stew in their misery about their poor effort last night, which is probably a good thing, as they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday before heading into their Christmas break. It'll be interesting to see how they respond, but I would expect them, and particularly Matthews, to play one of their best games of the season.

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DECEMBRE 22   |   1198 ANSWERS
Auston Matthews has some harsh words for the Leafs following 9-3 beatdown

Who is most to blame for the 9-3 loss to Buffalo?

Goaltenders29824.9 %
Team defense40433.7 %
Sheldon Keefe25421.2 %
Leadership group24220.2 %
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