Leafs Captain Auston Matthews Had Some Choice Words For Referees After Weak Penalty Call
Leafs captain Auston Matthews had some choice words for NHL officials after being given a roughing penalty on a very weak call.
In his second game back from injury against the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, Auston Matthews showed off his slick hands when he opened the scoring for the Leafs to take a 1-0 lead in the Original Six matchup.
Early in the second period, however, Matthews showed another side of his game when he responded to a hit he didn't like from Chicago's Connor Murphy. Matthews was collecting the puck behind the Hawks' net when Murphy took a couple of strides and landed a hit that may have caught Matthews a little higher than anticipated.
Matthews retaliated with a shove on Murphy as the two went back to the front of the net. The push forced Murphy off-balance and resulted in Matthews picking up the call for roughing.
On the way to the box, Matthews laid into officials with a profanity-laced rant that the cameras happened to catch.
Fortunately, the Leafs managed to kill off the penalty before John Tavares scored to give the Leafs a 2-0 lead.
Given that Matthews was not injured and there was no initial call on Murphy, it is doubtful any supplemental discipline will come his way. However, his hit certainly warranted a response from Matthews, who is in just his second game back since missing 9 games with an upper-body injury.
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2 DECEMBRE | 1192 ANSWERS Leafs Captain Auston Matthews Had Some Choice Words For Referees After Weak Penalty Call Should Connor Murphy have received a penalty for his hit on Auston Matthews? | ||
