Goaltender interference has once again become a big topic in the NHL this week, with players, coaches, and fans more confused than ever about what exactly it means.
Auston Matthews was at the centre of that conversation Monday night when he had a goal called off against the Colorado Avalanche. Of course, he followed it up with a successful marker in his very next shift — and made quite a statement with his celebration.
Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid had a similar incident — and a similarly inspired celebration — when he scored during Thursday’s shootout against the Calgary Flames and sarcastically asked the on-ice official if he’d like to review it up upstairs. (Unlike Matthews, McDavid was issued a penalty for abuse of officials for the act.)
When asked about Monday’s unconventional celebration during an interview on Hockey Central at Noon on Friday, Matthews said the idea “just came” to him.
“It just came to me,” Matthews said. “Obviously there’s a lot of controversy going on with these goals that are getting called back with goalie interference. I think our whole bench, we thought when we saw the replay that it’d be kind of a no-brainer, that it was going to be a goal but they ended up calling it back.
“Lucky enough, we scored the next shift so I was pretty excited and I made sure I called it a goal before anybody else could call it off.”
Matthews, who is joining the rest of the league’s all-stars in Tampa Bay this weekend, also talked about his team’s expectations, his signature scoring move, and which skill he doesn’t want to test during Saturday’s All-Star Skills Competition. Here are a few excerpts from the conversation:
On Year 1 vs. Year 2:
“I think the expectations changed quite a bit since last year. Our first year was kind of just, everybody’s new, seven or eight rookies in the lineup every night. You’re just kind of experiencing everything for the first time and now this year there’s bigger expectations from the outside and bigger expectations from within the lockerroom. For us, we expect to win every night no matter who we play and that’s kind of been the case. We’ve had some ups and downs this year, obviously a tough stretch for us, but in the long run I think a little adversity will help us out, hopefully.”
On his signature drag-and-pull shot:
“The summer I was drafted, I think, I just spent all summer working on my shot and different release points …
“That’s probably my favourite, my go-to, because I’m more of just like a snap shot kind of guy and kind of trying to change the angle, get the goalie or the defenceman even as a screen, try to get the goalie moving one way and shoot the other.”
On the ageless Patrick Marleau:
“Me and [Mitch Marner] kind of give him a hard time sometimes when we’re talking about age and stuff, but I mean, he’s probably our fastest guy on the team, he still gets up and down the ice so well. I mean he’s 38, 39 years old — whatever he is. To be able to play the way he’s playing right now, still moves the way he’s moving, you can tell he’s doing something right. He’s a fun guy to be around, too.”
On the skill he doesn’t want to be entered in during Saturday’s Skills Competition:
“Fastest skating. Luckily we have some fast guys, so hopefully they’ll look past me and pick Eichel and those guys that can fly out there.”
On the skill he’d like to compete in:
“I wouldn’t mind doing the accuracy shooting again, I like that one. Even though I thought I did really well in it and then they put me up again Crosby and it just didn’t go well for me after that.”
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