Auston Matthews offers self-assessment of recent form: ‘It’s fine, it’s been a grind lately’

“I mean, it’s fine. It’s been a grind lately,” Matthews said. “You know, for us it’s trying to string together points and wins. And I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that over the last seven, eight, nine, 10 games. You just want to keep putting yourself in a position to win games, and the team is winning games.”

Matthews returned to the Maple Leafs lineup on November 26 after a two-week injury-related absence. When he returned to action, Matthews scored four goals and seven points in nine games, which is far from the expected level based on his usual performances.

“I mean, we can all get better,” Matthews said. “Obviously the last two games have been frustrating. You go into the game against San Jose, take the lead and the third period wasn’t very good. And then of course on Saturday I think we’re in a position where the game is right there. It’s 3-2. Bad break on the third goal, but I think we came out in the third period and we were very flat and didn’t have enough energy. I think it will rightly fall to the leaders and that’s fine.”

Berube focused his criticism on Matthews’ linemates, a group that included Matthew Knies and Max Domi. William Nylander took over reps from Knies and Matthews on Monday, while Domi lined up in the third row alongside Dakota Joshua and Nicolas Roy.

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