Auston Matthews is a loyal teammate to his very first World Cup team. He'll go to great lengths for his teammates, including helping out defensively by blocking shots. This one caused Matthews to head to the trainer for a moment, but luckily he came back, because he had more work to do. Like...
Matthews blocks a shot pic.twitter.com/9InCLwGkRx
— Stephanie (@myregularface) September 14, 2016
... Shoving the guy who shoves his captain ...
Unnecessary hit from Roman Polak in the final 5 seconds of the 2nd period Auston Matthews comes to McDavid’s defense pic.twitter.com/CW76qDP2Yl
— Marina Molnar (@mkmolnar) September 14, 2016
... Even if the guy happens to be Future Teammate Roman Polak. But considering that Polak laid a borderline hit on one of the best players in the game, it's probably a reasonable response.
Roman Polak boards Connor McDavid in the final seconds of the 2nd period pic.twitter.com/KdJXKclTGC
— Marina Molnar (@mkmolnar) September 14, 2016
Polak, on the other hand, had nothing but praise for his future teammate.
A smiling Polak on being cross-checked by #leafs teammate Matthews. "He did a great job. I cld feel his stick in my back!"
— Mike Zeisberger (@Zeisberger) September 14, 2016
So I guess this bodes well!