Auston Matthews believes Frederik Andersen did well to call out his Toronto Maple Leafs teammates on Thursday night following another loss in which the team blew a third period lead.
"Andersen doesn't say much, but when he says something, people listen up," Matthews said Friday after practice, per Chris Stevenson of NHL.com. "He's absolutely within his right to be upset because we've left him out to dry too many times over this course of games. He's absolutely right. We have his back. We need to be better for one another, and we need to be better for him."
Related: Blowing leads becoming all too familiar for Maple Leafs
A visibly frustrated Andersen said the Leafs need to examine both their attitude and overall effort level after Thursday's overtime loss in Philadelphia, adding the team simply can't coast through the regular season despite sitting comfortably in a playoff spot.
Again, Matthews agreed.
"You can't have any complacency," said the young star center. "A lot can change. So you can go on a tough stretch, you can go on a hot stretch. Next thing you know, you're in another battle. We just want to stay focused, stay focused the whole season, doesn't matter what position we're in, we want to win every night."
The Maple Leafs are 12 points up on Detroit for third in the Atlantic Division heading into Saturday's game in Ottawa.
Copyright © 2018 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.