The Toronto Maple Leafs had a terrible Wednesday evening, losing 5-1 at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets. To make things worse, Auston Matthews was penalized for a really unusual—and hilarious—penalty, with many fans claiming they’d never seen anything like it.
The Toronto Maple Leafs entered Wednesday’s contest against the Blue Jackets with three straight wins, bouncing back from three straight losses from Jan. 10 to Jan. 15. But they were unable to extend their streak to four straight wins, as the Columbus Blue Jackets pulled off an upset, winning 5-1 at Scotiabank Arena, Toronto.
The game started with a great tilt between Ryan Reaves and Mathieu Olivier, and just five minutes later, chaos once again broke out, this time in front of Columbus’ net. After stopping a puck and then reaching for the loose puck, Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins lost his stick. Instead of reaching for his goalie stick, he ripped Auston Matthews’ stick from his hands.
Auston Matthews’ unusual penalty
Matthews suddenly found himself in the offensive zone without a stick, so he simply elected to pick up Merzlikins’ stick, ready to continue play. He quickly realized that playing with an opponent’s stick is against the rules, but the officials quickly raised their arms, and both Merzlikins and Matthews were given two-minute minor penalties for their stick swap.
Per Ryan Kennedy, Editor in Chief of The Hockey News, Merzlikins and Matthews had a laugh about the bizarre incident and the very unusual penalties after the game. “Elvis Merzlikins and Auston Matthews had a quick post-game laugh together in the hallway, no doubt chatting about their stick-swapping incident,” Kennedy wrote on X.
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