The Toronto Maple Leafs were close on Saturday, but couldn't claw their way back against the Detroit Red Wings, falling 4-2.
Auston Matthews scored a power play goal — his 10th goal of the season — and Matthew Knies tied the game early in the third period. However, Detroit's Jeff Petry found the back of the net 44 seconds after Knies' goal, restoring their one-goal lead.
Toronto had the extra man towards the end of the game but couldn't capitalize. Lucas Raymond would score on the empty net, handing the Maple Leafs their first loss in a week.
"I thought it's good effort for the most part tonight. Just that little breakdowns that just can't really happen on our side that they capitalized on," said Matthews on Saturday night. "I thought we had the puck a lot tonight, but maybe not enough stuff towards their net."
Toronto had 25 shots on goal while Detroit fired 26 against Joseph Woll, beating him three times. Matthews' goal, however, wasn't the only entertaining part of his game.
Early in the second period, the 27-year-old had a puck go off his skate, resulting in him losing his skate blade. Matthews needed a push from Jake McCabe to help get himself back to Toronto's bench.
"Yeah, it's never happened to me, but obviously, I mean, you see it every once in a while and yeah, I don't know. It's definitely interesting. I was a little bit mixed up," Matthews said.
"And then luckily, Caber was there to get me back to the bench, but it's definitely not something that I don't think's happened to me before. But yeah, it is what it is, just one of those freak plays."
What went through Matthews' mind when his skate blade popped out?
"I knew it was my blade the second he passed it off my skate because when I went to plant — I mean, I felt it come out and then I went to plant and I fell and went into the boards. So I knew the blade came out. I just didn't know what to do after that. So yeah, good learning experience, probably."
Even Joseph Woll, who's lost a skate blade while in the net in the past, called what happened to Matthews a "crazy" play.
"It's a weird play. I think it happened, I'm not sure if I'm right, but I thought it happened to (Lukas) Dostal last game where he lost his blade," Woll said. "It's a weird play because when it happens to you, it's confusing for a second or two. You don't know what's going on, but yeah, it was good we got him off."
Knies tipped a puck past Ville Husso early in the third period for his 11th goal of the season. He's four goals shy of his career-high of 15 goals, which he scored in 80 games last season with Toronto.
The 22-year-old admitted after Saturday's loss that he's never lost a skate blade during a game. Knies even knocked on wood in hopes that it never happens to him during game action.
"It's tough when he's (Matthews) down the ice," said the young forward, "but we made a great play by pushing him down to the bench."
The Maple Leafs have less than 24 hours to prepare for their next game: a 5:00 p.m. game inside Scotiabank Arena against the Buffalo Sabres, who lost 4-2 to the Washington Capitals on Saturday.
Both teams will be fighting for a massive two points on Sunday after leaving their perspective buildings the night prior with none. Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube is managing his time between games by focusing on his club.
"I look at the tape, look at the chances, just look at situation stuff," said Berube on Saturday night after the loss. "You know, Buffalo, that's all been taken care of too, but I'm going to focus on our team."
