Auston Matthews Calls Out Team During Critical Standings Push

Safe to say, the result against Nashville on Saturday was not the one that the Maple Leafs nor captain Auston Matthews wanted. Giving up five goals to the worst scoring team in the league is a bad look ahead of the playoffs, and the team can't afford to lose these games.

John Tavares was angry. Craig Berube? Flabbergasted.

Now Auston Matthews has taken his turn at calling out his team ahead of a crucial standings race:

It's great to see Matthews take responsibility, given it's his job as captain, but the onus does also fall on him. He's been very good recently, but is still not at that otherworldly level he was at last season.

Yes he's playing more defense and on the PK more often than he has been previously, but for a player the caliber of Matthews; mired in his worst shooting percentage at 5v5 for his career; it's feeling more like an excuse than anything else.

Matthews had two assists, and the power play was successful yet again, but the team gave up two more shorthanded goals, and their lack of discipline and inability to stay out of the box is a huge concern.

They just had three stellar games where they looked cohesive, aggressive, and they were keeping their opponents at bay. Against Nashville, it was a display of apathy. If they can't bring the heat against the likes of Florida, Tampa Bay, or even potentially Ottawa; it's going to be another quick exit.

The team will need to kick things back into gear as they take on the Flyers at home on Tuesday. It's another winnable game that will see Scott Laughton face off against his former club.

It's time for him to get the ball rolling, and the team needs to start securing these easy victories because if anything, their road to the Stanley Cup is going to get harder and harder with only themselves to blame.