Auston Matthews rips teammates following sloppy loss to Devils
Photo credit: NHL
Auston Matthews inched closer to the 60-goal mark again last night as he scored his 59th of the season to give the Leafs a 3-2 lead early in the second period. Unfortunately, after a dominant opening period (although they trailed 2-1) and first five minutes of the second, the wheels fell off for the Leafs. The New Jersey Devils scored less than a minute later to tie the game and added another three goals for a 6-3 victory.
Following the game, a handful of Leafs were more self-aware of the loss than normal, specifically William Nylander and Auston Matthews. In speaking with the media following the game, you could see the frustration on Matthews' face as he proceeded to call out his and his teammates' poor efforts.
"I think just a little bit of an immature game from us tonight at times. And I think we just have to have that killer instinct a little bit more, especially when you have a good first period like that. We wanna come out and stay on the hunt there, and then the second, I thought we kind of took a step back instead of a step forward. I don't think that's stuff you want to see in a game at this point in the year, especially with 10 games left. That's on us, on the players and we just can't let that happen. We have to be focused for 60 minutes."
The effort from the Leafs following the first period was anything but good, and not what you want to see heading into the playoffs, but it is nothing new as the Leafs have been prone to these games a handful of times every season. Back in action Thursday against the surging Washington Capitals, the Leafs will have little time to clean up their immaturity and sloppiness.
| POLL | ||
MARS 27 | 282 ANSWERS Auston Matthews rips teammates following sloppy loss to Devils Will Auston Matthews hit 70 goals this season? | ||
| Yes | 81 | 28.7 % |
| No | 201 | 71.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
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