Auston Matthews Throws Maple Leafs 'Passengers' Under the Bus After Game 7

The boos returned to Scotiabank Arena, and by the time Brad Marchand added an empty-netter late in the third, fans had exited the arena.

Speaking postgame, Leafs captain Auston Matthews did not hold back.

“I thought we were ready to play. It felt like we were in a good mindset,” Matthews said. “But I just thought we had too many passengers throughout the rest of the game. We weren’t on the same page.”

Matthews added that the Panthers took control quickly, making it impossible for the Leafs to pull off a comeback.

“In the first period, I thought they came out a little bit hungrier than us,” Matthews said. “I thought in the last half of that period, we got our game going. 

”I don’t know, I don’t know how it really got away from us.”

Matthews' remarks echoed loudly in the locker room, with fellow superstar Mitch Marner, also a pending free agent, agreeing with the captain.

“That’s the right wording, I would say, as well,” Marner said. “Can’t have passengers in a Game 7.”

The Leafs’ core of Matthews, Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares combined for zero points in Game 7, and all four are winless in their last six Game 7s.

Florida will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final, starting Tuesday.