Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube approves of Auston Matthews coming to the defence of Mitch Marner after a questionable collision in Saturday’s game against the St. Louis Blues.
Marner was standing in the crease trying to poke home a loose puck when he got knocked down hard by Blues defenceman Ryan Suter. The captain took matters into his own hands by immediately going after Suter with a retaliatory cross-check behind the net, though it did result in a roughing penalty.
Auston Matthews with a STIFF cross check on Ryan Suter after he puts Marner on his ass #LeafsForever | #StlBlues pic.twitter.com/i4NfQjppIZ
— Missin Curfew (@MissinCurfew) November 3, 2024
Berube was incensed on the bench that Suter was not penalized for his hit on Marner but praised Matthews for sticking up for his teammate even if it sent him to the sin bin.
“Well, that call, I have no problem with Matthews doing what he did,” Berube said to reporters after the game. “Mitch Marner got drilled at the side of the net. Should have been a penalty. They missed it. So for sure that’s a penalty, and they missed it. And he’s sticking up for his teammate there. I have no problem with that.”
This play signals a change in mindset from the Leafs that is surely a welcome sight for the fanbase. There had been too many instances in past years where a questionable infraction would take place when one of the Big Four was on the ice and none of them put up much resistance. Seeing Matthews step up by not letting a blindside hit go unchecked seemed to have sparked something in the Leafs as they further ramped up the physicality the rest of the night in following their captain’s lead.
It was one of the lone bright spots in an otherwise frustrating game for the Leafs in Berube’s homecoming game. The Leafs once again struggled on the power play going 0-4 on the night and were done in by a brutal showing in the second period where they allowed three straight goals that they could not overcome.
Still, seeing the growth and change in mentality from one of the leaders on the Leafs is an encouraging development that the players are buying into what Berube is trying to instill in them. There is still some work to be done to get them to fully embrace the new style (ie the power play), but the transformation is clearly happening right before our eyes.
