Former NHL enforcer slams Auston Matthews for not fighting his own battles
The Leafs got themselves the feel-good win they desperately needed on Wednesday night. Ilya Samsonov was great, John Tavares had a hat trick, the team dominated play throughout the game and didn't take their foot off the gas. So, naturally, the discourse on Thursday morning is all around criticizing Auston Matthews, who also happened to score in the game.
With the Leafs up 5-2 in the third, Auston Matthews tried to score on a between the legs move that missed the net by inches. This was evidently highly offensive to Flyers winger Travis Konecny, who decided he needed to fight the reigning Hart, Ted Lindsay and Rocket Richard winner.
Matthews didn't back down from Konecny but wasn't going to drop the gloves up 3 goals in the dying minutes of a runaway game. Thankfully, Mark Giordano flew in to intercept Konecny, tackling him to the ice, fighting Kevin Hayes shortly thereafter. When Konecny went back after Matthews, Michael Bunting jumped in before anything could happen. I saw it as a positive, teammates standing up for their star player. Not everyone had the same opinion.
Matthews' unwillingness to drop the gloves drew the ire of one Mike Rupp, a former NHL tough guy who, in his 609 career NHL games, had less goals and points than Matthews did last season alone. The former Danbury Trasher was very upset at the fact that Matthews, who missed time last season rehabbing a surgically repaired wrist, didn't drop the gloves. This is also the same Auston Matthews who was suspended last season for sticking up for himself in the Heritage Classic game after being cross-checked into the Sabres' crossbar by Rasmus Dahlin.
You see, it's actually a good thing if Matthews, a 60-goal scorer, breaks his hand or re-injures his wrist in a fight during a game in which they lead by 3 goals in the dying minutes of the game to a team outside of their division. Obvious sarcasm there, but you take my point. Auston Matthews and the Leafs literally had nothing to gain by having 6-foot-3 Matthews drop the gloves with 5-foot-10 Travis Konecny, whose career high is 61 points.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 3 | 426 ANSWERS Former NHL enforcer slams Auston Matthews for not fighting his own battles Do you agree with Mike Rupp's assessment of Auston Matthews? | ||
| Yes, he should fight his own fights | 57 | 13.4 % |
| No, a 60-goal scorer doesn't need to fight | 369 | 86.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
