Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews submitted one of the worst defensive performances of his career in a 6-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, and reflected on what went wrong post-game.
Matthews and Mitch Marner went -6 during the contest, although Matthews scored a key equalizing goal on the power play in the secnd period. It was the first time a player went -6 with a power play marker since Jonathan Marchessault reached this dubious feat nearly seven years ago.
“Just a couple breakdowns. I mean, they capitalized on some of their chances and just gained momentum on their side. And obviously, didn’t do a very good job of keeping the puck out of our net and key time to the game,” Matthews said post-game. “So, you know, sometimes that’s the way the game goes. You’ve just got to learn from it and do better the next one.”
Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal broke the game open with a hat-trick, adding an insurance goal in the third period, while Seth Jarvis capped off the win with an empty-netter. Staal previously scored short-handed to give the Hurricanes a 3-2 lead, Matthews then equalized for the Maple Leafs, before Jackson Blake — the son of former Maple Leafs forward Jason Blake — restored the Hurricanes’ lead for good.
“I think being more cognizant, making sure there are guys are getting back and helping,” Matthews said of what he can learn from Staal’s short-handed marker. “Obviously with Mitchy (Marner) back there, he’s extremely good on the back end so you have a lot of trust in him, but it doesn’t matter who’s back there, you have to get back and help out on odd-man (rushes) the other way, especially on the power play.”
Matthews and the Maple Leafs will rest up Friday, before taking on the Vancouver Canucks. It appears that Matthews and the Maple Leafs are putting a brutal night against the Hurricanes out of mind as a one-off, as their five-game winning streak came to an end. It’s rare to see two players capable of Selke-level defence get picked apart in defensive coverage, and we’re sure head coach Craig Berube will have lots of instruction behind the scenes on Friday.
