Auston Matthews cracks joke about William Nylander taking subway to Leafs games

The Toronto Maple Leafs are caught in a slump, losing five of their past six games to drop their record to 6-5-2 on the season.

Leafs star Auston Matthews attempted to lighten the mood on Friday ahead of his team's game against the Calgary Flames, saying he wouldn't be joining teammate William Nylander in taking public transit to Scotiabank Arena.

“I usually like to give myself enough time to get to the arena," Matthews quipped in a comment that should catch the Toronto Transit Commission’s attention.

A photo of Nylander riding the subway to Wednesday's home game against the Ottawa Senators went viral on social media, with the image also being shown on the television broadcast. "Riding the Rocket" has become a ritual for Nylander, who told the Toronto Sun that he's taken the subway to all but one home game this season.

On a more serious note, Matthews addressed his team’s glaring defensive woes ahead of Friday’s game.

Coming off a 6-3 loss to the Senators in which Toronto surrendered three third-period goals, there has been a major emphasis on addressing issues within the team’s defensive structure. Matthews, who finished 14th in Selke Trophy voting last year, offered his perspective Friday morning.

“It’s obviously something we’ve got to lock down a little bit,” Matthews said. “Just have better awareness, I just think the cohesiveness and communication out there with all five guys is important. It’s an area we’ve been struggling in so it’s something we’d like to clean up.”

Toronto is sporting a minus-three goal differential through the opening portion of the season. Matthews leads the NHL with 13 goals, Nylander has a point in every game and Toronto’s best players are living up to their end of the bargain. But the disparity between the team’s stars and depth players has never been more pronounced during Matthews' tenure with the team.

“I think communication is a big key but just closing quicker and giving the opposing team less time and space to get rolling around, just awareness, who’s out there, where they are. I think the time and space is a big thing,” Matthews said about how the Maple Leafs’ forwards can contribute to the overall team defense.

Matthews has been on the ice for 13 goals for versus eight against at 5-on-5, per Natural Stat Trick, while Toronto controls 52% of the expected goals when he’s on the ice. He’s certainly been defensively responsible against top-tier opponents and remains among the best defensive forwards in the league. Morgan Rielly and T.J. Brodie are one of the NHL's most effective defensive pairings, but there’s been a significant drop-off after Toronto’s top duo.

Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe provided a key update regarding his defense corps, stating that Jake McCabe would return to the lineup on Friday, while John Klingberg is out with an undisclosed injury. Klingberg has been arguably the worst defenseman in the NHL to start the season and Keefe previously spoke Wednesday about sheltering Klingberg as a team.

Keefe also confirmed Toronto would be operating with a 12-forward, six-defenseman format against the Flames.