It's About Time A Matthew From Arizona Finally Put The Toronto Maple Leafs On His Back
Maddie Meyer. Getty Images.The Toronto Maple Leafs have had all the talent in the world for years now. The organization certainly went through some tough stretches, but it's hard to find a team that is more loaded than they've been over the past 5-6 years. But for one reason or another, they just haven't been able to find the level success to match that level of talent.
Maybe they're soft. Maybe their best players end up disappearing in the playoffs when they're needed the most. Whatever the case may be, this team has only won a single playoff series in the past 20 years. They were on the brink of losing in the 1st round yet again last night in Boston.
But with their backs against the wall and clinging on to their final life, it was Matthew from Arizona who rose to the occasion and kept the season going for the Leafs.
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Matthew Knies. Just a good ol' boy who grew up playing youth hockey for the Phoenix Jr. Coyotes. The Toronto Maple Leafs have found their savior in the desert as he slams home this rebound to send the series to a game 6.
Now I have to imagine that whatever kept Auston Matthews out of last night's game was more than just an illness. We'll find out what his actual injury is whenever the Leafs season comes to an end and all the injury reports finally come flowing out. But you go into that game last night in Boston without Auston Matthews in the lineup, and you figure that's all she wrote for the Leafs. Just another abject failure of a season ending in the first round for Toronto. But Matthew Knies plays the game with heart. He plays the game with jam. He plays the game with everything that Toronto has been lacking. The kid is all piss and vinegar.
Toronto might have a certified guy on their hands here. Or they could easily get pumped in game 6 and this was just delaying the inevitable. Either or.
Sidenote: I am going to be so disappointed if I find out this dude ever wears anything else besides Leafs memorabilia.