The Toronto Maple Leafs suffered another loss on Wednesday, October 28, falling 5-4 to the Seattle Kraken.
It was a tough defeat for head coach Jim Hiller’s team, as they had several chances to get back into it and secure a better result, but a few costly mistakes ultimately proved decisive.
Among the most heavily criticized players after the game was goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who frankly did not have his best night.
Both fans and analysts strongly criticized Bobrovsky after the game, and the media even asked captain Auston Matthews about the goaltender’s performance on Wednesday. However, Matthews was cautious in his response and even defended the goalie.
Matthews Says Maple Leafs Must Be ‘Cleaner’ Defensively in Front of Bobrovsky
He said, “Bob’s been great. I mean, he’s been great for us all year long. I think every now and then there’s going to be a couple that you want back, but you know, in the end I put it more on us.”
“As a five-man unit, not doing enough to help him out in certain situations where, you know, they’re coming down and getting grade-A chances.”
As an example of the postgame analysis of Bobrovsky’s performance, Zack Phillips delivered a brutal verdict on the goaltender during Wednesday night’s edition of Daily Faceoff’s After Dark.
He said, “I do not want to hear one single fu—-g word about Sergei Bobrovsky’s underlying analytics saved above expected or any of that fu—-g horses–t until this guy can find a way to A, make a save and B, which seems like an impossible task right now, win you a goddamn hockey game.”
“Back-to-back games for the Toronto Maple Leafs where Sergei Bobrovsky goes in net and just lets you down.”
Matthews Says Maple Leafs Didn’t Do Enough to Help Bobrovsky
Matthews also addressed the team’s defensive issues, as one of the most common post-game talking points was that Bobrovsky couldn’t be held entirely responsible for the loss, since the players in front of him also failed to perform at the expected level.
He said, “Guys are stepping up and playing more minutes and, you know, look at a guy like Troy Stetcher who’s been playing a lot of minutes. He’s been producing, been doing it on both sides of the puck for us. And you need that.”
“Murmy, same thing, veteran guy who’s been around for a while. I mean, those guys are stepping up and doing what they’re supposed to do. And, you know, I just think it’s not solely on the defense.”
“Anytime there’s a goal that goes in our net, I mean, we’re out there as a five-man unit, and all five guys have jobs out there. And so, you know, if one or two have a breakdown or a mistake and it ends up in the back of our net. So it’s just defending with all five guys, being cleaner in that area, and being cleaner on our breakouts as well.”
Auston Matthews Backs Sergei Bobrovsky After Maple Leafs Lose to Kraken