Bizarre Moment as Auston Matthews Gets Wild Penalty for Stealing Blue Jackets Goalie's Stick
Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews received a weird penalty tonight after he stole a stick from the other team.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight and things got wild in the first period.
During a shift in the offensive zone, Leafs captain Auston Matthews lost his stick near the Blue Jackets net.
Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins also lost his stick around the same time and picked up Matthews' twig by mistake, using it for the rest of the shift.
As a result, Matthews elected to take the goalie's stick in response, picking it up before quickly dropping it after he saw the referee's arm go up.
Matthews has gotten in trouble with head coach Craig Berube at times earlier this season, but Berube will probably look the other way for this one.
While it would have been a lot of fun to see Matthews try and finish the shift with a goalie stick, it is against the rules in the NHL to use a stick belonging to a player from the other team.
As a result, both Matthews and Merzlikins received minor penalties on the play.
That being said, this was still a hilarious moment that fans around the league including Leafs fans got to enjoy.
Needless to say, Matthews setting up in front of the net with a goalie stick will probably be all over the headlines tonight and tomorrow morning.
Matthews has 19 goals this season in 33 games. Sadly, none of them were scored using a goalie stick.
Because he's missed so much time with injury he is 3rd on the team in goals and 4th in points.
Hopefully he won't miss any games for the rest of the season and hopefully he won't take any more penalties for illegal equipment.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 22 | 238 ANSWERS Bizarre Moment as Auston Matthews Gets Wild Penalty for Stealing Blue Jackets Goalie's Stick Do you think the referees should have just let Auston Matthews play with the goalie stick since Elvis Merzlikins was using his? | ||
| Yes | 143 | 60.1 % |
| No | 95 | 39.9 % |
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