Matthews’ lack of effort late against Vegas a tough end to matchup against Marner
The Toronto Maple Leafs suffered a tough defeat at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights Thursday night, a loss that saw them give up a game-tying goal with seven seconds left in the third period, then Jack Eichel scored in overtime to give Vegas the 6-5 win.
The loss comes with extra sting as it was the first time the Leafs faced their former superstar winger in Mitch Marner, who wound up going to Vegas through a sign-and-trade in the offseason.
As for the game itself, the singular play that stood out to a lot of Leaf fans was the backcheck — or lack thereof — from captain Auston Matthews on Eichel’s overtime goal.
On this angle you can see Auston on the Eichel game winner
On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discuss Toronto’s loss and if Matthews really was dogging it at the end of the game.
Tyler Yaremchuk: Some Leaf fans are saying, “Hey it’s 3-on-3 overtime, he’s absolutely gassed.” But where this turns into an inexcusable play … is when Jack Eichel had enough gas to get back into the play, that’s what makes this unacceptable.
Carter Hutton: You can see the way Matthews spins off him that he’s dogging it. It goes back to the narrative that this isn’t something new, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen this when we talk about Auston Matthews and William Nylander. There’s been numerous times in overtime where they’re gassed and have been left out too long.
You need to find a way to have a little bit of extra effort, just to be there and not get lost, to dig deep and do something, right? I feel like the way this game goes, it just adds to the storyline: Numerous leads, blown leads … The momentum of that game tilted to Vegas, and the Golden Knights are on a back-to-back. You don’t think Jack Eichel is tired?
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…