{"id":480300,"date":"2026-03-02T05:31:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T05:31:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/480300\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T05:31:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T05:31:20","slug":"how-maple-leafs-fans-reacted-to-auston-matthews-at-first-home-game-since-usas-win-over-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/480300\/","title":{"rendered":"How Maple Leafs fans reacted to Auston Matthews at first home game since USA\u2019s win over Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"An<\/p>\n

Auston Matthews’ triumphant return to Toronto could have gone a lot worse.<\/p>\n

Auston Matthews\u2019 triumphant return to Toronto could have gone a lot worse.<\/p>\n

The Maple Leafs recognized their three Olympians during Saturday\u2019s 5-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators, their first home game since the conclusion of the 2026 Winter Olympics.<\/p>\n

At the first TV timeout of the contest, fans erupted in applause for Sweden\u2019s William Nylander and Oliver Ekman-Larsson \u2014 before giving a mixed reaction toward the Maple Leafs captain<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Of course, the star center had more recently captained Team USA to its first men\u2019s hockey Olympic gold medal since 1980 at Canada\u2019s expense.<\/p>\n

\"Team<\/p>\n

Team USA captain Auston Matthews Getty Images<\/p>\n

Jeers sprouted from the crowd as the PA announcer introduced the \u201cgold medalist,\u201d but they quickly evolved into a thunderous cheer as his position and name were called \u2014 complete with a standing ovation.<\/p>\n

Following Team USA\u2019s climactic overtime victory against its fierce North American rival, Matthews drew criticism up north<\/a> for visiting President Donald Trump in the White House.<\/p>\n

One fan even created an online petition<\/a>, calling for the Leafs to oust the American from his captainship. In visiting Trump, the petition reads, \u201che missed an opportunity to stand for the values and beliefs that are important to many Canadians.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Maple<\/p>\n

Maple Leafs fans watch captain Auston Matthews warm up before his first game back in Toronto following the conclusion of the 2026 Winter Olympics. NHLI via Getty Images<\/p>\n

But when presented with an opportunity to let Matthews hear it on Saturday, the Toronto faithful prioritized team pride over the international rivalry.<\/p>\n

Matthews, 28, also received a warm welcome<\/a> in Tampa on Thursday night, met with a brief ovation from Lightning fans as they honored their own Olympians.<\/p>\n

The Maple Leafs (27\u201324\u20139) have dropped three straight games and will look to rebound at home against the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Auston Matthews’ triumphant return to Toronto could have gone a lot worse. Auston Matthews\u2019 triumphant return to Toronto…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480301,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5108],"tags":[3189,532,3644,5180,897,230,5179,5,189,20,4,782,25,56,12054,3255,66,1114],"class_list":{"0":"post-480300","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-columbus-blue-jackets","8":"tag-2026-winter-olympics","9":"tag-auston-matthews","10":"tag-blue-jackets","11":"tag-bluejackets","12":"tag-columbus","13":"tag-columbus-blue-jackets","14":"tag-columbusbluejackets","15":"tag-hockey","16":"tag-lightning","17":"tag-maple-leafs","18":"tag-nhl","19":"tag-oliver-ekman-larsson","20":"tag-ottawa-senators","21":"tag-philadelphia-flyers","22":"tag-president-donald-trump","23":"tag-team-usa","24":"tag-toronto","25":"tag-william-nylander"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116157945773874206","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}