“I feel like we were just flat from the beginning of the game,” Matthews said. “We didn’t really have our legs, couldn’t really get our cross going and they controlled the play. Obviously those two guys there control a lot of play, are deceptive and very shifty, and it just didn’t look like we had the legs that we needed tonight.”
Hughes and Faber finished the night with two assists each and both played team-high minutes, with Hughes leading the way with 26:33 TOI. Matthews, a new addition to the Wild’s back end, spoke about how Hughes could be a real challenge to take on.
“He plays a lot of minutes, he’s elusive, and like I said, he controls most of the game,” Matthews said. “He makes such good passes, they hang on to the pucks. It’s hard to establish your lead in the neutral zone. When you try to get structure, those guys are skilled and talented enough to break that structure and break the pressure.”
Despite the loss, Matthews came away with a goal and an assist, enough to move him past Börje Salming for fourth place on the Maple Leafs all-time points leaderboard. Matthews acknowledged that these individual accolades take a back seat when the team is down, but spoke about what it means to work in that business.
“Yes, it’s hard to put those things into perspective with the game going on, but obviously I’m very honoured,” said the Toronto captain. “He’s a guy who has done a lot for this organization, the city, the franchise, and has a very rich history here. So it’s pretty cool.”
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