Toronto Maple Leafs forward Matthew Knies wasn’t pleased with the lack of response in the moment, but once the third period began, he was thrilled to see how the team showed up for their injured captain, Auston Matthews.

The Leafs defeated the Anaheim Ducks 6-4 on Thursday, hitting the win column for the first time in over a month, but all anyone was worried about after the game was the health of Matthews, after being kneed viciously by Ducks defenceman Radko Gudas.

“It was a quick play. I was more focused on the puck because I knew (Auston) wanted to go back door to Cowboy there,” stated Knies following the win. “Obviously saw him down in pain. You know the player: he’s done that quite often. I think it should be looked at. It’s our best player going down. It’s gotta be taken by the league here.”

While in the moment there was absolutely no push back from the Leafs as their captain laid on the ice, Knies was happy with how the team responded in the final frame, after what was a very vocal second intermission. “Just the push back to fight back. There’s a lot of guys upset about what happened,” said Knies. “I think we did a good job responding to that in the third period, much better than we did at the time of the play.”

Maple Leafs’ defenceman Morgan Rielly took accountability after the game as someone who didn’t do a damn thing immediately after the hit, while Matthews laid on the ice in pain. Knies admitted the coaching staff was pissed off, and the message in the dressing room was to seek some revenge in the third, while also capitalizing with the man advantage.

“We talked, we wanted to get some licks on their top players. It’s frustrating seeing our best player go down like that, but we stayed on course, and didn’t really do anything too stupid. I think we just fought back and played a good game.”

The third period started with the William Nylander scoring under a minute in, followed by goals by Bo Groulx shorthanded and Knies, who hit an empty net with less than two minutes remaining. Knies was impressed to see how much each teammate ramped up their emotion after Matthews was out of the lineup, especially 20-year-old Easton Cowan, who went to battle for Nick Robertson, after he was laid out by Ducks’ defenceman Jackson LaCombe.

“I love that we stayed composed, and didn’t really get away from the game, too. We found a way to win the game, and still fight and push, and not get thrown around. Good job by all those guys. Cowboy stepping up like that, shows a lot on his character, and the character of this team.”

It was a very emotional Thursday night at Scotiabank Arena for the Maple Leafs. Seeing their captain in pain sent shockwaves around the dressing room, and kudos to the entire team for how they responded in the third period. Knies knows the team may not be where they want to be in the standings this late in the season, but you can’t question the team’s character and willingness to play for one another.

“I think we did a great job to capitalize on the opportunity, especially a five minute. To score a few goals and get the momentum back, and fight back for him. That was the main goal, to win the game for (Auston). A lot of resilience in this room, a lot of character.”

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