"I don't mind": Leafs' Matthews enjoyed Canadiens fans booing him
Auston Matthews isn’t letting a few boobirds from Montreal Canadiens fans get to him after his Toronto Maple Leafs cruised to a 4-2 victory on Saturday night.
The NHL’s leading goalscorer recorded his 64th goal of the season against the Hab last night, growing his lead to 11 over the second-place Sam Reinhart (53) and getting slightly closer to the coveted 70-goal mark.
Canadiens fans knew this last night and didn’t pass up any opportunity to let Matthews know that the Bell Centre was not where he was welcomed. That didn’t bother the 26-year-old, who told reporters after the game that he liked the attention that Habs fans were giving him.
“I kind of find it as a tone of respect, especially in a building like this,” said Matthews. “It’s a big-time hockey city and fanbase, so I don’t mind.”
Auston Matthews has 64 goals and the Leafs have scored twice in 17 seconds 😱 pic.twitter.com/BnnBETVeAy
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 7, 2024
Booing top players is nothing new for the Montreal faithful, and Matthews is right when he says it’s the fanbase’s way of showing respect for the league’s best. Bell Centre fans booing Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid earlier this season also made some headlines.
Like Matthews, McDavid took no offence to the booing.
“I love playing there. I love that building. The fans are great,” McDavid said at the time. “I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”
Unlike the Oilers superstar, Matthews seems to feast on the Canadiens. In 34 career games against the Habs, Matthews has an astounding 27 goals and 45 points against them. He now sits six goals shy of the 70-goal mark with six games left on the Leafs’ schedule.
If he can get there, he will be the first player to do so since Teemu Selanne and Alexander Mogilny did so in the 1992-93 season.
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