Matthews comments on Sandin stepping in and dropping the gloves on his behalf

Sandin had never been in a fight in the NHL before but managed to score the takedown after eating a couple of shots from his longtime friend in Wahlstrom. Post-fight, Sandin was given shin taps from Mark Giordano and Matthews and received an ovation from the Leafs' faithful for standing up for Matthews.

"It meant a lot, Sandy jumping in there," Matthews said after the game. "This group is extremely tight," he continued. "We have each other's backs. At my end, it's much appreciated but I don't know how much I want to see Sandy dropping his gloves."

As the "toughness" of the Leafs always comes into question because they don't have the traditional fighter in their lineup every night, Sandin showed that they don't necessarily need one. This is the second instance this month where the team has come to defend each other, the first one being during the Travis Konecny and Matthews scrum at the beginning of the month. At the same time, having already lost Morgan Rielly to injury, who is also known to stick up for his teammates, it probably wasn't the best idea for Sandin to fight at the time, as his fighting major put the Leafs down to four defensemen. Now, it will be up to Sandin to step up his play as the Leafs may be without Rielly for a few games.