“Our turn to push back” – Auston Matthews charges Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of Game 3 against Lightning

Auston Matthews

The Toronto Maple Leafs centre Auston Matthews has said that his side needs to respond against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference First Round. The third Maple Leafs-Lightning clash of the best-of-seven series will take place on May 7 at Amalie Arena.

Earlier, Tampa Bay sent a clear message that thoughts of a one-sided defeat could quickly be dispatched as they clinched Game 2 after an embarrassing 0-5 loss in the preceding match. Coming to the forthcoming game, the Californian National Hockey League (NHL) star Matthews stated that Toronto needs to ‘push back’ and ‘make sure that we have an answer.’

“They came with a push and now it’s our turn to kind of push back here and makes sure that we have an answer,” the Maple Leafs center said one day after the Lightning evened the best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoffs series with a 5-3 win at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday.

FS Video

Also Read | “Don’t think it matters individually” – Predators goaltender Connor Ingram makes 49 saves but fell short in 1-2 loss against Avalanche

“We knew they were going to come with a push,” Matthews said, as quoted by NHL.com. “Obviously the discipline part, the penalties we took, just kind of kills the momentum a lot of the time.”

“More time spent on the set is a challenge”

Meanwhile, Toronto Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe has stated that their success in the first match won’t let Tampa Bay settle despite yesterday’s comeback.

“When you have opportunities to get clears, you have to get them,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “The more time they spend on the set, it’s a challenge. You’re not going to be able to hold them off for too long when you do that. The success we had in Game 1 as a result of us disrupting them a lot and not letting them get set.”