Auston Matthews gets brutally honest on USA’s ‘tough’ 4 Nations loss to rivals Canada following Toronto return

Team USA captain Auston Matthews spoke out about the team’s loss to archrivals Canada in the final of the 4 Nations Face-Off. Matthews, who led his team to a 3-1 win against Canada during the round-robin stage of the tournament, did not pull any punches while sharing his feelings after Thursday’s loss.

Toronto Sun reporter Terry Koshan posted a quote from Matthews on X (formerly Twitter).

“Matthews on the past day or so: ‘It’s tough. It means a lot to wear that jersey and have the opportunity. You never know how many chances you get at representing your country and playing in a tournament like that. Definitely still stings. But you have flip the page.’ #Leafs,” Koshan wrote.

Matthews, the Toronto Maple Leafs captain, is back with his team and will resume the NHL season against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.

Speaking to the media after practice on Friday, Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube talked about Matthews and the positives he could take away from the tournament.

“I’m unhappy for Mattie (Auston Matthews) they didn’t win,” Berube said. “But I think playing with the best players in the world and being in that environment and being in that stressed situation is good for our players to experience.”

Berube had reportedly said that the final would be a tight game and coincidentally predicted the final scoreline of 3-2 correctly. When asked about this, he responded:

“I thought that there’s going to be a couple goals scored. There’s a lot of good players out there that can put the puck in. Like I said, it was a great game,” Berube added.

Auston Matthews lauds Team USA players after the 4 Nations final

After the final on Thursday, Auston Matthews praised Team USA’s performances throughout the tournament.

“Yeah, I mean, I’m super proud of this group,” Matthews told reporters. “I thought we battled our hearts out the whole tournament. Tonight, we had opportunities, and it didn’t happen, but I couldn’t be prouder of this group. I thought the whole tournament, everybody gave 100%.”

Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson scored in the final to give the USA the lead after tournament MVP Nathan MacKinnon had opened the scoring with his fourth goal of the tournament. Canada defenseman Sam Bennett tied the game later.

Team Canada goalie Jordan Binnington made eight saves in the third period and six in overtime, including two saves against Matthews, before Connor McDavid scored the game-winner for Canada at 8:18 in overtime.