Matthew Knies slings legendary insult at Tampa Bay Lightning after Tuesday's big win

Many wondered whether Matthew Knies would sink or swim in his first stretch of NHL action following his signing at the conclusion of his NCAA season. Well, after two solid outings, we appear to have our answer. It turns out that the kid can play. Yes, Knies has made some minor mistakes, but none have been costly and he came to within an inch of scoring his first career NHL goal in just his second game - which occurred against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Tampa on Tuesday evening.

Knies and the Leafs faced a lot of adversity in the game and were missing some key players, with Matthews, Marner, Giordano and Samsonov all sitting out. In the end, the Leafs skated away with a 4-3 regulation win, standing tall despite a late push by the Bolts to force OT. Knies notched the 1st point of his NHL career, but perhaps even more memorable for fans was the comment he made following the win.


Now, to be fair, it's not just the upcoming playoff series against the Lightning that has the rookie winger entering a combative state of mind. Less than one week ago, Knies and his University of Minnesota teammates suffered a disappointing loss at Amalie Arena in the Frozen Four finals against Quinnipac University, missing out on an NCAA Title for a second consecutive year.


Still - we know that Knies is a competitor and we know what type of game he likes to play. He likes to be physical, he likes to use his size to his advantage on the wall and we also know that he wants to win. Maybe his comment about playing at Amalie Arena was his way of getting into battle mode ahead of what should be a very contentious and eventful playoff series.