Matthews battling ‘lingering’ illness
Leafs pushed to the brink of elimination after Game 4 loss
Toronto Maple Leafs centre Auston Matthews has been sidelined by a “lingering illness” as Toronto stares down playoff elimination.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe provided an update on the star sniper’s status Sunday afternoon, some 14 hours after watching his team fall, 3-1, to Boston in a disastrous home performance.
The Bruins now lead the Original Six matchup 3-1 and can close things out Tuesday at TD Garden. Game 6, if necessary, would be back in Toronto on Thursday.
Keefe said Matthews has been cut down by more than a “run-of-themill” illness, adding that the symptoms get worse when the 26-yearold asserts himself on the ice.
The 69-goal man willed Toronto to victory in Game 2 to even the best-of-seven series, but was clearly labouring in a 4-2 loss in Game 3 before being removed from the action Saturday.
Brad Marchand became the Bruins’ all-time leading playoff goalscorer and added an assist as Boston suffocated the disjointed Leafs.
“Guys are trying. It’s a good team over there that’s limiting us,” Keefe said. “You can question a lot of things … can’t question the effort.”
James van Riemsdyk and David Pastrnak had the other goals for Boston, while Jeremy Swayman made 24 saves. Marner replied for Toronto. Ilya Samsonov stopped 14of-17 shots in 40 minutes of action. Joseph Woll played the third and finished with five saves. William Nylander made his 2024 playoff debut after missing the first three games with an undisclosed injury.
Marner denied frustration was creeping into the group when asked about an animated discussion on the bench with Matthews and Nylander.
“We’re grown men,” he said. “Just a little bit off page there. We’re not yet yelling at each other because we hate each other … we talked about it after. We’re just trying to make a play.”
“We expect a lot from each other and we love each other,” Nylander added. “Just to push each other, have a high ceiling, I think is great.”
Toronto was unable to connect on two first-period power plays — dropping to 1-for-13 in the series — with the crowd buzzing before the visitors pushed ahead.
Leafs tough guy Ryan Reaves turned the puck over and Van Riemsdyk, who played in Toronto from 2013 though 2018, jumped on the miscue to score his first of the series at 15:09.
Toronto winger Max Domi took a cross-checking penalty seven minutes into the second, and Boston’s red-hot power play took advantage with its sixth goal in four games when Marchand one-timed his second — and the 56th of his postseason career to pass Cam Neely for top spot in franchise history — at 8:20.
After Matthews, Marner and Nylander had their chat, the Bruins went up 3-0 with 41.6 seconds left in the period on another series of Leafs mistakes that led to a 2-on-0 where Marchand fed Pastrnak for his second.
“We’re just not getting on the right side of it,” Toronto captain John Tavares said. “Getting in a hole is difficult, especially against a team that defends as well as they do.”
Fans were encouraged to be in full voice after some criticism about the Game 3 atmosphere, but channelled that energy into a chorus of boos as the clock ticked down to the intermission.
The Leafs made the goaltending change and were without Matthews when Ilya Lyubushkin rattled Swayman’s crossbar three minutes into the third.
Marner finally got the home side on the board when he slid his first of the playoffs past Swayman at 5:42. The Bruins goaltender then denied Joel Edmundson on two successive chances with the Leafs pressing.
Toronto got another power play with less than six minutes remaining in regulation, but barely gained control in the offensive zone to fall to 1-for-15 with the man advantage.
The boos returned in the final minute to send the Leafs, who now need three straight victories against a team that’s won 10 of the last 11 between the clubs head-tohead, on the road looking to keep their season alive.
“We have a tremendous fan base that wants to see us win and have success so badly,” Tavares said. “You can’t blame them.”
The message is a simple one looking ahead to Tuesday.
“Stick together,” Tavares added. “Keep pushing forward, find a way to get a win and bring it back here.”
The Leafs trailed the Bruins 3-1 in the opening round of the 2018 playoffs, but won two straight to force a Game 7 they would lose in Boston. Toronto also fell to its Atlantic Division rival in seven games in 2013 and 2019.