Auston Matthews Sends Message After Maple Leafs Loss

Toronto Maple Leafs v Columbus Blue Jackets

Getty

COLUMBUS, OHIO - OCTOBER 20: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs seen in action during the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on October 20, 2026 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images)

The Toronto Maple Leafs have begun their six-game homestand 0-3-0, with their loss to the New Jersey Devils on Sunday standing out above the rest.

Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews spoke to the media postgame and understands the urgency surrounding the lineup. It was clear to many that in a tough Atlantic Division, the Maple Leafs needed to use this homestand to get ahead during the early portion of the season. There is no question the Maple Leafs have had one of the toughest schedules in the NHL so far; however, they simply haven’t been good enough.

Auston Matthews Speaking on What Went Wrong For the Maple Leafs

”In the end, I think it’s just we’re banged up,” Matthews said. “Guys gotta look in the mirror and just ask a little bit more of themselves and take on a little bit more. Adversity like this kind of is gonna come your way regardless. It’s a long season. But what we do with this, I’d hope it’s something that can kind of propel us forward, bring us a little bit closer together, get back to our game, and get back to playing the right way.”

Expectations were high for the Maple Leafs this season as newly appointed general manager John Chayka made major changes to the roster; but, just as last season, they haven’t seemed to gel like they have wanted. Additions such as Darren Raddysh have yet to find themselves on the scoresheet, and future Hall of Famer Sergei Bobrovsky is beginning to look like a 38-year-old netminder.

Heading into Sunday, the Maple Leafs were dealing with several injuries, with two on the backend to Morgan Rielly and Chris Tanev, and two in the top-six, including Kirill Marchenko and Jack Roslovic. While these injuries haven’t been helpful, every team in the NHL deals with these types of injuries throughout the season, and you expect players to step up in their place, something Toronto has not been able to do so far.

Matthews When Speaking on Maple Leafs Injuries

”I don’t think it’s really anything new to what we’ve kind of done throughout the season,” Matthews said when speaking on the team’s injuries. “We lost Sissons there sometime in the second period, I think. So you gotta move forward. You’re gonna have to shuffle things around, obviously; you’re trying to find a goal, so you just gotta mix and match with different stuff. I don’t think it’s really anything unexpected by any means.”

“I think we’ve shown through moments and stretches and periods of time against good teams that we’re a really good team and we can compete,” he said. “It’s just a matter of doing that consistently and not getting too high or too low. It’s just staying on that even keel throughout that sixty minutes, knowing that there’s gonna be ups and downs. Making sure that next shift, whether it’s a good one or a bad one, we’re flushing it, going out there and going at it again.”

The Maple Leafs have Monday off before they prepare to wrap up the homestand with games on Tuesday against the Colorado Avalanche, Minnesota Wild on Thursday, and the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.