Leafslatest just passed along Auston Matthews' message to the Maple Leafs after last night's 3-2 loss to Utah.
The captain didn't spend time on the result. He went straight at the way Toronto keeps starting games, and the Leafs now sit 8-7-2 through 17 games.
Matthews listed every excuse a team could reach for, then took them away one by one, according to Leafslatest.
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"There's no excuses. It doesn't matter, the schedule, the travel, time change and all that," Matthews said. "You've got to come ready to play regardless."
He added that the Leafs have to "find a way to compete and grind through." The post cuts off after "Unfortunately," so the rest of his answer stays with him.
It's a pointed message from a player who wasn't the problem on Tuesday. Matthews logged 20:01, finished a +2 and put five shots on goal, and he set up two goals without scoring himself.
Jack Roslovic scored twice, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 33 of 36 shots. That still wasn't enough, because Utah's Sebastian Cossa made 27 saves on 29 shots and the visitors walked out with the points.
Why the slow starts are a bigger problem than one loss
Toronto is 6th in the Atlantic Division and 14th in the NHL, and the margin for error isn't wide. A team with a +6 goal differential can't keep spotting opponents a head start and expect to climb.
Matthews has been carrying a heavy load all season, with 11 goals and 15 assists in 17 games. We looked at Auston Matthews leading the Maple Leafs through their slide last week, and the theme hasn't changed. The captain keeps answering for the room.
The message is also the right one. A captain who is producing at this level has earned the right to say it, and nobody in that room can point to the schedule anymore when the captain has already ruled it out.
He has been consistent about what the jersey demands, too. Before the Vancouver game, Auston Matthews spoke about Maple Leafs pride, and this reads like the other side of the same conversation.
Words only matter if the puck drop backs them up. The next chance to show it comes Saturday, November 7, when the Leafs host Montreal, and the first period will say more than any quote.
Is Auston Matthews right to call out the Maple Leafs' slow starts publicly?
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