TORONTO — The slumping Toronto Maple Leafs finally won a game but lost Auston Matthews to a lower-body injury on Thursday.
And they were angry about it, as much with themselves as they were with the Anaheim Ducks.
Matthews, the Maple Leafs’ captain, crumpled to the ice when he tried to sidestep a hit in the slot from Ducks captain Radko Gudas, who was assessed a major penalty for kneeing and a game misconduct at 15:47 of the second period in a game Toronto would go on to win 6-4 at Scotiabank Arena. The 28-year-old was helped off the ice by a trainer and teammate Brandon Carlo, putting minimal weight on his left leg.
Matthews will be reevaluated on Friday, coach Craig Berube said.
“It’s a dirty play,” Berube said. “The League is obviously going to look at it and see what the suspension will be. Or whatever happens.”
As much as the coach was perturbed by Gudas’ actions, he was also irked by his team’s lack of any in that moment. Toronto’s remaining four skaters on the ice — forwards William Nylander, rookie Easton Cowan, and defensemen Morgan Rielly and Carlo — did not offer any response toward Gudas while their captain was writhing in pain on the ice, something that did not sit well with Berube.
When asked if he had an explanation as to why his players did not immediately react in that situation, Berube replied: “No. Obviously, we should have four guys in there doing something about it, but it didn’t happen.”
It was a heated topic between the coach and his players in Toronto’s dressing room during the second intermission, a number of Maple Leafs said. It sparked an emotional final 20 minutes of physical play in which Toronto outscored Anaheim 3-1 to snap an eight-game losing streak (0-6-2).
“I thought we responded in the third. A good response there,” Berube said. “But we all would have liked everyone to get in there right away.”