yahoo - 4/21/2026 7:44:45 PM - GMT (+2 )
The Toronto Maple Leafs are catching strays from the Toronto Raptors' media.
On Monday night, in Game 2 of the Raptors' first-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Scottie Barnes was taken down by Jaylon Tyson. Toronto's RJ Barrett stepped in and gave Tyson a shove, which then created a commotion on the court.
Several players from both teams stepped in to help diffuse the situation.
Tempers are flaring in Cleveland 👀 pic.twitter.com/LBgQxRnYfA
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) April 21, 2026
While that was happening, TSN's NBA colour analyst, Jack Armstrong, said, "Auston Matthews wishes he had (Barrett) as a teammate. That's how you stand up for your guys."
Armstrong, of course, was referring to when Matthews got kneed by Anaheim Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas on Mar. 12, and none of the captain's Maple Leafs teammates immediately approached Gudas.
They followed it up in the third period with physical play and several goals, defeating the Ducks 6-4. But it wasn't a good look for a hockey club whose core has been together for quite some time.
"I mean, it was an unfortunate play, and I thought they responded in the third period," Matthews said during his end-of-season media availability on the hit and his teammates' immediate reaction.
The collision ended Matthews' season. He had surgery to repair a grade 3 MCL tear in his left leg seven days after the incident, but he will be ready for training camp next fall.
"Yeah, (rehab is) going good. Really good," Matthews added. "I'll be ready by next season and have a pretty normal summer, for the most part. I'm about a month down now, so a couple more months before I can kind of start to turn it up a little bit."
Maple Leafs' Reported Meeting With Mats Sundin 'More Exploratory Than Anything'Dreger adds that Sundin likely isn't willing to relocate to Toronto unless it's a prominent role within the organization.Matthews finished the season with 27 goals and 53 points in 60 games. Despite missing 22 games, Toronto's captain still finished fourth in team scoring, only behind Matthew Knies, John Tavares, and William Nylander.
The Raptors are two games into their series against the Cavs and have lost both games. They return to Toronto to play Game 3 of the series on Thursday night inside Scotiabank Arena.
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