TAMPA – Sheldon Keefe gave credit to the wily Tampa Bay Lightning for dragging Auston Matthews into the first fight of NHL his career — whether he wanted to or not.
“First of all, I love how he stood up for himself,” Keefe said, following the Toronto Maple Leafs’ dramatic 4-3 overtime win Saturday.
“But the fight itself, I mean, it’s a classic example of a veteran championship team like Tampa Bay manipulating the officials and taking advantage of a situation.”
With the Lightning leading 3-2 in the third period of Game 3, Morgan Rielly and Brayden Point battled for a dumped-in puck, and Point got crunched hard into the end-boards. He went down in pain.
Nikita Kucherov immediately tackled Rielly, earning himself a roughing penalty in retaliation.
A light scrum erupted into a pair of fights, with Steven Stamkos dropping the gloves against Auston Matthews and Kucherov going after Ryan O’Reilly. All four men were handed five-minute majors.
“The play happened so quick,” said Matthews, who hasn’t been in a pro fight. “Fair share of practice scuffles and stuff like that, but not really.”
Keefe believes the scraps were strategic, as the Lightning ended up dragging three members of Toronto’s top power-play unit into the box with them.
“They know we’re basically already going on the power play because of the Kucherov situation, so it’s a free-for-all. They can do whatever they want, and they just know the way the games get called, they’re not going to get another penalty,” Keefe said.
“I mean, you watch that sequence back, and to say that we shouldn’t be on a 5-on-3… the official is literally holding Steven Stamkos with one arm, and his other hand, with no glove on, is punching Auston Matthews. Not the linesman. The referee who calls the penalties was holding Stamkos while this was happening.
“It’s five on five instead of us getting another penalty. So, credit to Tampa for recognizing that situation. It’s a free pass. You can do what you want. Not only do they get out of it unscathed, but they take Matthews and O’Reilly with them to the box. Brilliant play by the Lightning there in manipulating that situation.”
Leafs captain John Tavares said Matthews had no intention of fighting and that it was “interesting” how the sequence unfolded.
“It is what it is, but Papi is gonna stand his ground,” Tavares said. “He’s a strong dude, and he’s gonna fight for every inch out there. So, great job by him and by the group by just staying composed through it at all and keep playing and fighting through it and finding a way to survive.”
Because the game flowed on without a whistle, all the star fighters were stuck in the box for nearly nine minutes.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper applauded Stamkos and Kucherov for sticking up for Point.
“It’s why we’ve been to the Final three times in row,” Cooper said. “They do more than just put the puck in the net, and it was unbelievable what those guys did.”
As for Stamkos, he said he was reacting emotionally to a bang-bang play.
“You see one of the best players in the world go headfirst into the boards. There’s gotta be a response. I’d expect the same thing from their group if Mitch Marner or Matthews was in that same position. It’s playoff hockey. That’s just the way it is.” Stamkos said.
“It’s nothing personal.”
