‘Tough one to swallow’: Auston Matthews gets brutally honest on Maple Leafs’ dreadful start to season
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After winning their first two games of the 2022-23 NHL season, Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs have won just two of the next seven outings. The latest was a 4-3 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks to end a five-game road trip that saw the team lose in overtime twice. But the loss to the Ducks was especially painful for the Maple Leafs, considering that they were up 3-1 following a shorthanded goal by Calle Jarnkrok less than a minute into the final period.
The Maple Leafs, however, failed to protect that lead, which they blew by allowing two unanswered goals in the third period to the Ducks and then another in overtime to ultimately absorb yet another defeat.
“This one’s tough,” Auston Matthews said about the loss, per Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star. “Tough to swallow.”
The Maple Leafs got on the board first in the contest when Matthews found the back of the net on the man advantage early in the first period. Anaheim showed no quit at all in the game, as the Ducks outhit Toronto (18-9) and also won the possession battle with 39 shots on goal to just 36 by the Maple Leafs.
What made the loss even more frustrating for the Maple Leafs is the fact that they were getting plenty of terrific looks. According to Natural Stat Trick, Toronto had more high-danger shots for (26) than the Ducks (17).
If anything, at least Matthews seems to be starting to get into a rhythm again after a five-game goalless stretch. He now has scored two goals in three games.
“I think sometimes when you’re on a slump, you kind of feel snake-bit,” said Matthews. “It’s almost like: Am I ever going to see the puck go in the net again? But I think it just takes one to reset. I try not to think like that, anyways. It’s tough to go through a bit of a stretch like that. Just have to continue to compete, continue to shoot the puck and see what happens. But obviously it was nice to see it go in.”
The Maple Leafs will look to stop the bleeding this Wednesday at home against the Philadelphia Flyers.
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