When thinking back on the Leafs' first playoff series win since 2004, there were a few standout moments that got everyone up out of their seats. Of course, John Tavares' Game 6 OT winner was one of them, but another was Steven Stamkos jumping Auston Matthews in Game 3, leading to the first fight of Matthews' NHL career.
During a recent appearance on the "Clearing the Crease" podcast, Stamkos spoke about the incident and told James Cybulski, Andrew Raycroft and Mike Commodore what triggered the need, in his mind, to grab ahold of Matthews and start swinging.
We know that hockey is a fast sport and plays like Rielly/Point race just happen sometimes. Injuries happen, even if they come as a result of an unintentional collision after a puck race. It's good to hear Stamkos acknowledge that it was more of a "tough luck thing" than anything else and obviously, as Stamkos said, it had nothing to do with Matthews. He might have swung on anyone in the area at that point. That's just all a part of what it's like to play in the playoffs, where the emotions are heightened. I will, however, be interested to see if Matthews goes after Stamkos at some point next season to get the chance to square up with him fairly, without having been jumped first.
POLL | ||
5 JUIN | 502 ANSWERS Steven Stamkos finally breaks his silence and explains why he jumped Auston Matthews in Game 3 Will we see a round 2 scrap between Stamkos vs Matthews at some point next season?? | ||
Yes | 83 | 16.5 % |
No | 419 | 83.5 % |
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