Auston Matthews Describes Senators' Beatdown Of Leafs As 'Fairly Embarrassing, To Be Honest With You'

For the NHL's two Ontario teams, there's almost no margin for error in the final month and a half of the regular season. So when they squared off on Saturday night in Toronto, it was always going to be bad news for the loser.

It turned out to be the Maple Leafs, who lost to the Senators 5-2, but it was more than just another regulation loss. This was a near must-win game for both teams and Toronto was badly outclassed for their third straight loss since the Olympic break. 

The good times for Team USA captain Auston Matthews appeared to be over when he jumped on the plane home to Toronto.

"We were just really disconnected throughout all three zones," Matthews told the media after the game. "I mean, it was just bad. Just fairly embarrassing, to be honest with you. We need to have more pride in our play, no matter where we're at, no matter what the situation is. We just have to have more pride in our game and we didn't have that tonight."

With Boston losing to Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon, it was Ottawa that seized the opportunity to move up in the standings. The Bruins still cling to the second wild card, and if they falter, the Sens aren't the only team waiting to capitalize. Boston is two points up on Washington, five points up on Columbus and Ottawa, six on Philadelphia, and seven on Florida, the two-time defending champs.

With their loss to the Sens, Toronto's playoff hopes look bleak as they stand nine points back with six teams to jump over. 

While the Leafs hook up to life support, the Senators' playoff hopes are still beating on their own. One of the things that was most impressive about the victory was the way the Senators kept playing their game, even after they took complete control with a 5-2 lead late in the second period.

There was no letdown, no falling back into a defensive shell, and no cheating to try and pad their personal stats. They attacked when it was time to attack, they defended when it was time to defend and Toronto couldn't make any kind of push as a result.

"Yeah, you know, we talk a lot about not changing our game and how you play with the lead," head coach Travis Green told the media. "Obviously, they're a very dangerous team and if you lower your urgency level or your intensity, they're going to make you pay."

Drake Batherson made the Leafs pay, and probably deserved a hat trick or better. He hadn't scored since Jan. 18, a span of ten games, but we was right on target in this one, scoring twice. He picked the corner on Joseph Woll on two occasions. The first one was absolutely threaded, top shelf, short side with almost nothing to shoot at. The other was also a perfect shot, low to the blocker side.

"Yeah, I thought we played really well," Batherson told the media. "I thought our start was great. Obviously, the shots (40-23) showed that everyone played good, up and down all night. (Ullmark) made some great saves and obviously it was a big win for us."

Ullmark lit up when he was asked about getting Batherson to use that big shot of his more often.

"I mean, if anyone saw the Sens Skills, he had a 106mph shot or something like that, and I've felt it in practice a couple of times. 

"And he's a terrific hockey player, lots of skills, loss of speed, a big body and a terrific human being as well."

This was Ullmark's first game back in Toronto since Dec. 27 when he was pulled in a 7-5 loss to the Leafs. After that game, he admitted having in-game anxiety issues and the following day he entered the NHL/NHLPLA players assistance program and took a month long leave of absence for his mental health.

Ullmark didn't look particularly strong in the first half of the game, fighting the puck a little and leaving some rebounds, but like a pitcher getting some run support, he seemed to get more confidence as the game went on.

When asked about the return to Toronto, he described it as just another game

"It's nice not getting pulled, that's nice," Ullmark told the media. "And you can't really focus too much on just one out of, I don't know, 16-20 games being here. So (from that perspective) it's just a normal game, a new one, against a good team in Toronto."

It might be a normal game, but for many reasons, as regular season victories go, that one felt bigger than most.

Steve Warne
The Hockey News

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