The Toronto Maple Leafs’ superstars are having a great season.
Although many fans are disappointed with the team’s results this season, Auston Matthews has been scoring goals like crazy, and William Nylander had an outstanding point streak to start the season.
Auston Matthews scored the game-winning goal in overtime against the Winnipeg Jets, which the Maple Leafs won 1-0.
But earlier in the game, superstars Matthews and Mitch Marner had a terrible line change during the Jets’ penalty kill, allowing Winnipeg to go on a 2-0 rush.
Ilya Samsonov came up big with multiple saves, stopping Morgan Barron and Adam Lowry, who played catch with each other in front of the net.
Samsonov’s heroic saves allowed the Maple Leafs to steal the two points from the Jets, but head coach Sheldon Keefe wasn’t happy with how the first power play unit acted, leading to the Jets’ breakaway chance.
“Thank God for 35 in there,” Marner said.
For the following power play and the 5-on-4 following that, Marner, along with Matthews and Nylander, the Maple Leafs’ top trio, found themselves benched.
“They make a mistake in that spot. It’s a chance for me to hold them accountable and get some other guys involved,” Keefe explained.
In a post-game interview, Marner himself commented on the benching from Keefe, taking full responsibility for what happened.
“Obviously not good enough. We know that. We’ve been here for a long time. To give that (2-on-0) up, especially on a power play in a game like that, it’s unacceptable,” he said.
On social media, Marner was praised by fans for actually taking responsibility for his actions during the game.
