The team’s leading scorer with five goals in six games in the series, Auston Matthews addressed the media after his team’s first-round victory over Tampa Bay.
After coming close so many times, what were your feelings after seeing the puck cross the line in OT?
Matthews: It is pretty exciting. I can’t really put it into words with the nervousness and anxiety throughout the game and in overtime. To find a way to win, it took all 20-plus guys in here. It took everybody. I think everybody should be proud of their effort the whole series, but tonight, to get this job done on the road is not an easy task.
It is a great feeling. It is a monkey off the back for a lot of us that have been here for quite a long time. It is something that we will enjoy tonight, but this is step one in a long journey we are trying to be on. It only gets harder from here.
Was it fitting that John Tavares scored the winner?
Matthews: Fitting for sure. I don’t care who scores it — it doesn’t matter — but just a great play by him and a pretty fortunate bounce, obviously. We’ll take that.
Can you point to anything as to why this team is different than in the past?
Matthews: I think it is really just staying with it, trusting each other in this room, and forgetting about everything on the outside with the noise.
We were coming in here in a hostile environment just trying to get the job done, keeping it within our room here, going out and executing, and laying it all on the line.
Fortunately, we got the job done tonight.
What do you remember about the shift that led to your 1-0 goal?
Matthews: Mitchy made a great play to me on the seam first. Those are the kinds of sequences that we want more of — multiple puck possessions and shots.
Really nice play by [Brodie] to hold the middle and find me on that last shot. I think it got tipped or something, but a goal’s a goal.
What can you say about the performance of your goalie?
Matthews: I don’t think I can say enough good things about Sammy. I admire his mindset and his attitude. Every single day, he comes to the rink and he works his ass off. He doesn’t care if he has a bad game or lets in a bad goal. He is on to the next. He has a short memory.
He is just so steady in the net. It is a blast playing with him and competing with him every night.
What was it like in the intermission before overtime?
Matthews: Pretty upbeat. A lot of talk and a lot of chatter in here. I think there was confidence within the group that these are the moments we play for and live for. It just takes one shot, and somebody has to go get it. That was really all that was said.
The team hadn’t done this before. Where did the belief and trust come from?
Matthews: The belief never goes away. I don’t think you can compete and play in these series without belief regardless of the results that we have had in the past.
It would be easy to roll over and not give it your all, but even last year, it was so tight. We felt like we really competed and did everything that we could to win. We still fell short. I think that just shows how hard it is to win and how competitive it is in this league.
As I said before, it is one step closer to where we are trying to get. It is only going to get harder. We recognize that. This is a great moment for our group for sure.
How would you describe your emotions in the handshake line?
Matthews: Just so happy for this group and every guy in here. If you look around, it is such a long season to get to this point. To find a way and keep battling, I am so proud of everybody in here. It is a lot of love in this locker room. We just want to keep it going.
What was it like in the first couple of minutes when you came into the room as you realized what you had accomplished?
Matthews: It is great. A lot of high-fives and a lot of screaming. It is just a great feeling. It is tough to describe the feeling of winning a series. It is a great feeling. We will relish this and move on to the next one.
Where does relief rank among the emotions?
Matthews: It is up there for sure. I have been here seven years with Mitchy and Willy. Mo has been here 10. Johnny — five or six. Just getting over that hump is huge mentally for us. To get that monkey off the back, you don’t want to look back now. We want to keep our foot on the gas and keep pressing forward.
