Along with Matthews' roughing penalty on Suter, McCabe and Holmberg dropped the gloves in St. Louis.
Along with Matthews' roughing penalty on Suter, McCabe and Holmberg dropped the gloves in St. Louis.
If there's anything to like about the Toronto Maple Leafs' 4-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, it's the fact that they stuck up for each other in certain situations.
Over the last few seasons, Toronto's players have been rather quiet when an opponent goes after one of their teammates, whether during a stoppage or behind the play.
But when Mitch Marner received a two-handed shove by Ryan Suter on Saturday, it was Auston Matthews coming to the aid, putting the veteran defenseman to the ice with a shove of his own.
Matthews was the only player in that scuffle to receive a penalty, which the Maple Leafs didn't like. However, it's encouraging to see Toronto's captain stepping up when one of his teammates gets put to the ice.
"Yeah, it was great. Yeah, I gave him props. It's one that you kind of shocked that we go on the penalty kill for, but it is what it is," Mitch Marner said after the game on Saturday. "It's a hockey game out there, it's competitive. You know, we've got each other's backs."
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO-Aj_baK1I[/embed]
The Maple Leafs have been making a strong effort to stick up for their teammates since last season when nothing was done following Brad Marchand's trip on Timothy Liljegren, which resulted in the former Toronto defenceman picking up a high-ankle sprain.
"We talked about it and addressed it in the room," Ryan Reaves said following the incident nearly one year ago. "It’ll be changed going forward."
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported that the Maple Leafs players were shown clips of the Tampa Bay Lightning's "pack mentality" after the Marchand/Liljegren incident.
Although it's a work in progress, Toronto's game in St. Louis — which included two fights, from Jake McCabe and Pontus Holmberg — was a strong reminder that the Maple Leafs are working on sticking up for each other.
And Matthews' shove on Suter, which resulted in a penalty, wasn't something that Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube was upset about.
"Well, that call, I have no problem with Matthews doing what he did. I mean, Mitch Marner got drilled at the side of the net. Should have been a penalty. They missed it," he said after the loss.
"So, you know, for sure that's a penalty, and they missed it. And, you know, he's sticking up for his teammate there. I have no problem with that."