Sid Seixeiro thinks Auston Matthews has already shown one worrying sign in the Maple Leafs’ preseason opener: the captain is getting his chances, but the puck isn’t finding the net.
That was the focus of Seixeiro’s comments after Toronto’s early exhibition work, including the 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in one half of a split-squad doubleheader on Saturday at Scotiabank Arena. Matthews took part in that game after returning from a Grade 3 MCL tear and quad contusion that ended his 2025-26 season, and the raw activity level looked encouraging. He picked up an assist, fired six shots on goal and logged more than 22 minutes of ice time.
The problem, as Seixeiro sees it, is the finish.
“There was a play in the first period where Matthews went behind the net, went through everyone, and had a chance. Auston Matthews only hit that twice all last year… the whole Matthews going through a team was jarring in a good way.
We haven’t seen that in a very long time. Quick, engaged.
I don’t know if he’s lost weight. I’m not sure.
There was another aspect to this that I was just like, oh boy. He was doing the thing again, where it’s just like it’s missing nets and it’s not going in," said Sid.
He followed that up with an even sharper take:
"Again, you can tell me it’s preseason all you want. This is the most troublesome thing you’ve seen from him for the last several seasons.
It’s not like he’s not getting in positions. It’s when he’s in the circle and missing the net by three feet that I’m just like, what the h*ll is this?”
Toronto’s first preseason tune-up against Montreal also came with mixed team results. In split-squad games last week, the Leafs dropped a 4-1 decision at home and then lost 4-3 in overtime on the road.
Against the Canadiens on Saturday, the game stayed scoreless through the first period before Phillip Danault opened the scoring 51 seconds into the second. Darren Raddysh answered for Toronto later in the period, tying it 1-1 on the power play.
Montreal pulled back in front in the third when Maksymilian Szuber scored at 4:46. Danault added his second of the night into an empty net at 18:59, and Samuel Poulin finished off the 4-1 final with less than 30 seconds left.
The Leafs’ next preseason game is Wednesday against the Ottawa Senators.
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