Daily Faceoff Toronto reports that Auston Matthews came to his goalie's defence after Jack McBain hit him in the Maple Leafs-Mammoth game tonight.
The game is live as I write this, with the Maple Leafs and Mammoth in the first period. The score isn't something to guess at, but the moment is already the talk of the night.
Daily Faceoff Toronto summed it up in a short post, noting that Papi came to the defence of Bob.
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McBain is a Toronto native, so this was never going to be a quiet night in his hometown. The Utah center comes in with 23 penalty minutes through 15 games, and he plays a physical, 6'4 game.
Matthews doesn't usually get pulled into this kind of moment. He has 4 penalty minutes in 16 games, which tells you how rare it is to see him step in for a teammate.
| GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | |
| 2026-27 | 16 | 11 | 13 | 24 | +7 |
| Career | 705 | 439 | 365 | 804 | +154 |
He's also been busy on the scoresheet, with 11 goals and 24 points this season. A star who produces like that and still goes to the crease to protect his goalie sends a message to the whole room.
That message lands on a team still sorting out its identity. The Leafs sit 8-6-2, 13th in the NHL, after Auston Matthews talking about being a Maple Leaf before the win in Vancouver on Saturday.
Why the Leafs needed this from their captain
Matthews has been in the spotlight for weeks. There has been constant talk about his future, and what it takes to keep him happy in Toronto.
Nothing answers that louder than a star standing up for a teammate in the middle of a game. Winning is still the real key, but this kind of play doesn't hurt the case.
The Leafs have been leaning on their top players, and Gavin McKenna and Auston Matthews playing together has been one of the early bright spots. The Leafs outscored opponents in those minutes by a wide margin.
Utah arrives at 9-6-0, third in the Central Division, after a 6-3 loss in Philadelphia on Sunday. Andre Tourigny's group doesn't need extra fuel with a young team playing well, and McBain's hit may have handed the Leafs some.
Toronto wanted to answer, and it did. The Mammoth now have to decide whether they want to keep testing a team that has just shown it will defend its crease. Both teams are back at it soon, with the Maple Leafs hosting Montreal on Saturday, November 7 and Utah visiting the Canadiens on Thursday, November 5.
Should Auston Matthews be dropping the gloves for his goalie, or is his job to stay on the ice and score?
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