Toronto Maple Leafs star, Auston Matthews, has given a frustrated rant after his side dropped a 2-0 series lead against the Florida Panthers.
Auston Matthews Furious As Maple Leafs Drop Series Lead Against Florida Panthers
After winning the opening two matches in the NHL Playoff Second Round, the Toronto Maple Leafs were starting to build confidence and may have envisaged the Stanley Cup final already.
However, three straight defeats to the Panthers, including a 6-1 thrashing on home soil, means Toronto have dropped their 2-0 lead and cannot afford to lose in the next encounter.
One man who has caught the headlines is Auston Matthews, who tends to be the main talking-point due to his status and being one of the highest paid players in the NHL.
The 27-year-old is yet to score in this seven-game series against the Panthers, registering three assists across the five matches so far and has put in some underwhelming performances.
Matthews has spoken out about his display, but also commented on the Toronto Maple Leafs’ approach to the last few games and what needs to happen for any improvement to occur.
He said: “I mean, I think everybody’s got to look in the mirror, like I said. You know, myself included. Everybody wants to be better. Everybody wants to obviously win. And, you know, we’ve been a great road team all season long.
“You know, there’s always going to be belief in this group and a confidence in this group from what we built off throughout the year. So we’ve got to go into this game with confidence, and it’s got to be our best game of the year.”
As previously mentioned, Matthews has failed to score against the Florida Panthers so far, but the American believes that he does not need to score to have an impact on the game.
Matthews said: “I mean, honestly, it’s, I don’t look at myself as, like, a one-dimensional player if I’m not scoring. You know, I’m trying to do all the other little things that, you know, make the team successful, that make myself successful, and just try to be an all-around complete player.
“So I’m going to continue to push and try to score, obviously, and keep shooting. But obviously all the other little details of my game, I want to do at a high level as well.”
