‘Lingering’ illness weakens Matthews
Auston Matthews gave everything he had for two periods.
Before departing Saturday’s disappointing 3-1 home loss with an illness as the Boston Bruins pushed the Maple Leafs to the brink of playoff elimination, Toronto’s sniper and two of his star teammates also gave it to each other — verbally — on the bench.
And despite the sequence getting dissected by media and fans alike in the aftermath, head coach Sheldon Keefe tried to put a positive spin on the high-profile exchange among Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander in the second period that included some choice words and tossed gloves.
“Those guys care; I don’t look at it as frustration,” Keefe said Sunday at the Leafs’ practice facility following a team meeting.
The Leafs, meanwhile, have no wiggle room down 3-1 in their bestof-seven playoff series heading into Tuesday’s Game 5 at TD Garden.
Keefe, whose group has just seven goals in 12 periods, said the margins have been small. The main issue has been special teams. The power play is an ugly 1-for-14, while the penalty kill has been almost as bad with the Bruins connecting on six of 13 chances.
“These games that we’ve been in, they’re far closer than it may appear,” Keefe said. “We need little things to shift over into our favour, starting with special teams, whether we’re one finished chance away or one extra save away.”
Having things go Toronto’s way would include getting Matthews — owner of 69 regular-season goals — healthy.
Keefe said the illness that saw the centre pulled in the second intermission by doctors is “lingering.” Matthews didn’t look like himself in a 4-2 loss in Game 3 following a monster two-goal, one-assist performance in a 3-2 win two nights earlier that evened the series 1-1.
“We’ve just got to manage that and give him the time that he needs,” said Keefe. “We’re hopeful that it’ll turn.”
The Leafs, who have lost 10 of their last 11 games against the Bruins dating back to last season, don’t have much time.
It was hoped Nylander’s return Saturday from an undisclosed injury that sidelined him through the first three contests would spark the struggling power play. But Keefe said things actually got worse.
If the Leafs can pull out a win Tuesday against the Bruins, who have some demons of their own after blowing a 3-1 lead to the Florida Panthers last spring, Game 6 would be Thursday back at Scotiabank Arena.