Matthews comments on his crowd directed celebration
It was a terrible first period for the Maple Leafs and Ilya Samsonov last night against the Tampa Bay Lightning as they went down 4-1 inside of the first 15:20. Samsonov was pulled and the team got booed off the ice after 20 minutes. To begin the second period, however, it looked like a completely different Leafs team as they dominated the second period and cut Tampa's lead to just one courtesy of two goals from Auston Matthews.
Following Matthews' second goal, which was set up on a fantastic pass from Matthew Knies, Matthews celebrated near the glass waving his arm in the air to pump the crowd up. It's something he doesn't normally do to the crowd when he scores, but with how the Leafs started and with many fans thinking the game was over, it seemed necessary to get them back into it. Following the game, Matthews was asked about his celebration.
It was a sly response from Matthews, who continued his torrid goal scoring pace, adding another two last night. He, along with Mitch Marner and rookie Matthew Knies, helped pull the Leafs out of the hole they dug themselves in the first with a combined four goals and 10 points. With the help of Calle Jarnkrok in the third and overtime, the Leafs snapped a four-game losing streak and sent the fans that stayed home happy after a dismal first period.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 7 | 352 ANSWERS Matthews comments on his crowd directed celebration Should Sheldon Keefe have put Knies with Matthews and Marner sooner? | ||
| Yes | 250 | 71 % |
| No | 32 | 9.1 % |
| Probably, but it's all remedied now | 70 | 19.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
