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Pair of Sportsnet Analysts Call Out Maple Leafs Captain Auston Matthews
Photo credit: Sportsnet
Two popular Sportsnet analysts are not impressed with Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews and have publicly called him out over his lackluster play.
The good news for the Toronto Maple Leafs is that they lead the Battle of Ontario against the Ottawa Senators 3-1. The bad news is that it may not last long, with the Sens leading Game 5 by a score of 1-0 with 20 minutes to play.
During a recent airing of 'Real Kyper & Bourne', analysts Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne, and Sam McKee called out Auston Matthews for his lack of impact in Toronto's Game 4 loss to the Senators, starting with Kypreos.
"This guy needs to step up this time now, to look - even if you're not shooting it in the net, you have to look like you're the best player on the ice."
To help emphasize his co-host's point, McKee brought up the uncomfortable stat that both Matthews and Marner are a combined 1-12 in elimination postseason games during their Leafs careers, and that he recognized some of the facial expressions seen on Leafs players in Game 4 that have made appearances far too often in years past.
"To be quite frank, you see those numbers, the 1-12 in elimination games - I saw a lot of the same looks that I've seen in years past. The looks on the faces, the pucks bouncing on them, like, you're not shooting it in....I recognize some of the looks from Matthews and Marner in Game 4."
Bourne concluded his comments by saying that Matthews is capable of so much more, and that the Leafs need to see an elite performance out of him if they are to prove that this year is different.
"We know he has another gear - we know what it looks like when he hits that gear. In one of these games, in one of these moments, you'd like to see him have one of those games, one of THOSE games."
Matthews and the Leafs need to wake up and end this series tonight. If they don't, the seeds of doubt will have been planted, and we've all seen this movie before.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 29 | 3520 ANSWERS Pair of Sportsnet Analysts Call Out Maple Leafs Captain Auston Matthews Has Auston Matthews done enough for the Maple Leafs so far in the postseason? | ||
| Yes | 499 | 14.2 % |
| No | 3021 | 85.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
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