Auston Matthews injury mystery deepens as Maple Leafs force Game 7

The Maple Leafs have survived two elimination video games with out their greatest participant — and it feels like they are going to have it to make it three.

The Athletic reported that Auston Matthews is “unlikely” to play in Sport 7 in opposition to the Bruins after Toronto received the previous two video games, together with Thursday’s 2-1 victory, with out the star ahead.

What stays unclear within the top-secret world of NHL playoff accidents is what precisely is ailing Matthews.

Matthews was coping with an sickness in Video games 3 and 4 earlier than getting harm on an “innocuous hit whereas enjoying sick,” in accordance with the report.

Crew medical doctors pulled him out of Sport 4 in the course of the second intermission and one supply advised The Athletic that it could be “reckless” for him to play in Sport 7.

Matthews, who had a objective and two assists in Toronto’s Sport 2 win, has been skating in 30-minute periods with staff staffers and participating in some drills aside from his teammates.

“It’s troublesome, clearly, if you acquired probably the greatest gamers on this planet and presumably not out there,” Maple Leafs captain John Tavares stated of Matthews, in accordance with The Hockey Information.

“But it surely’s the character of the sport, the game, and we’ve been by means of it earlier than.”

With out Matthews, who had an NHL-best 69 objectives this season, the Maple Leafs have relied on protection and goaltending to drag out a pair of 2-1 victories — the primary coming in additional time — in opposition to the Bruins after falling right into a 3-1 collection gap.

The Bruins now are dealing with their ghosts of a season in the past after they noticed a historic 135-point common season turn out to be meaningless by permitting the Panthers to climb out of a 3-1 collection deficit within the first spherical.

At the least one Maple Leafs participant admitted that their staff mentioned that after they fell behind on this collection.

“Once we acquired down 3-1, that was a subject we introduced up,’’ defenseman Joel Edmundson advised the Toronto Star after Sport 6. “It gave us momentum and the positivity that we would have liked. Something can occur. We knew it was going to be an extended collection anyway.

“So it doesn’t actually matter if we have been down 3-1 or not, we have been simply going to maintain chipping away. Truthfully, it simply begins with one recreation, construct off that one recreation and maintain it rolling. It’s thrilling, you’ve acquired nothing to lose. There’s no tomorrow when you lose, so put every thing on the road, one night time at a time.’’

That’s the Maple Leafs actuality for yet another night time — with or with out their greatest participant.

Sport 7 is Saturday night time in Boston at 8 p.m.