Matthews forced to explain why he called out Leafs teammates

The Toronto Maple Leafs fell to a 5-4-2 record on the season following a loss to the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night and star player Auston Matthews felt the need to call out his teammates during his post-game interview.

“It’s just not good enough,” Matthews said postgame, per TSN. “We need to be better and I think it comes from the leadership group. I need to be better. All of us need to be better. We just need to look each other in the eye and hold each other accountable.”

The Leafs are now back in action tonight, three days after the loss and the comments, but Matthews was forced to explained why he called out his teammates. 

“We’re a family here, but sometimes you gotta yell at your family,” he told TSN’s Kristen Shilton. “(Communication) is something that we can do a better job of and I think it’s something that we are doing a better job of.”

What the Leafs will also need to do better is discipline and defense. Toronto has taken the fifth-most penalties - including 10 in the last two games - after being the NHL’s most disciplined squad a year ago.

“You don’t want to lose; I hate losing,” Matthews added. “So you’re frustrated, but it’s still early. We’ve still got new guys and we’re still trying to mesh. … But when we look around at the guys that we have, I think we expect more out of each other. So that’s just holding one another accountable, putting the past in the past, and putting our best foot forward.”

Despite leading the team with eight goals in 11 games, Matthews made it clear that he too needs to do a better job. Especially now that the Leafs can’t count on captain John Tavares, who remains sidelined with a broken finger. 

“Just defensively (I can be better) and all areas,” he said. “I have to put the puck in the back of the net, create on offense, but it starts in the D-zone and I think that’s an area that we’ve been trying to work on lately, especially today (at practice), so I’ve got to be better.”

Let’s see if his teammates heard what he had to say and can do better tonight against the Sharks.