Matthews goes to bat for a teammate who has struggled at times this season
Ahead of their matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night, the media had a chance to speak with the players after the morning skate. One key takeaway came from superstar forward Auston Matthews, who came to the defense of a struggling teammate this season.
In his answer, Matthews acknowledges that teammate Justin Holl takes a lot of heat as he certainly isn't always on the bright side of the news. Most often criticized, Holl has been playing well in his past few games.
Averaging just over twenty-one minutes of ice time over the last three games, Holl has contributed through his efforts on the defensive end, where the Leafs have beat two of the top teams currently in the Boston Bruins and the Carolina Hurricanes on a back-to-back.
Since the move to playing with T.J Brodie as the first defensive pairing on October 30th against the Anaheim Ducks, Holl has been effective, and the Leafs went on to win 3 of their last 4 in this formation. Although it may not show on the score sheet, Holl has been effective on the penalty kill and, until Timothy Liligren's return, was the Leafs only right-handed defenseman for the majority of the season.
In this large Toronto market, Leafs fans tend to pick on one defenseman and use them as a punching bag for their struggles. For example, Dion Phaneuf and Jake Gardiner. In the most recent years, this player has been Justin Holl.
When Matthews, your franchise player, acknowledges that the team loves Holl, he must be doing something right. The outside noise seems not to bother him, and it has been reflected in his recent play. The pairing of Brodie and Holl has helped the Leafs to get back on track, to which the Leafs have only allowed four goals in their last three games. In two of those three games, the Leafs have been running their third-string goalie. This has been a true testimony to how good the Leafs are not just on the offensive end but defensively as well.
Holl looks to continue his effective play when the Leafs look to avenge themselves against the Vegas Golden Knights at Scotiabank arena tonight.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 8 | 270 ANSWERS Matthews goes to bat for a teammate who has struggled at times this season Will Justin Holl finish his season in Toronto? | ||
| Yes | 123 | 45.6 % |
| No | 98 | 36.3 % |
| Not only will he stay a Leaf, he'll re-sign too | 49 | 18.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
