Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews out for Game 6: What we heard about his injury and schedule

The Toronto Maple Leafs need to win another game without Auston Matthews to extend their season and give their leading scorer a chance to recover enough to return.

Whether that could happen for Game 7, should the Maple Leafs beat the Boston Bruins on Thursday, has yet to be determined.

According to multiple sources briefed on the matter, the Leafs are taking a day-by-day approach to Matthews’ recovery. He hasn’t yet been ruled out for anything beyond Game 6, but he’s obviously dealing with a major issue missing two potential elimination games.

One source briefed on the matter said Matthews is unlikely to play in a potential Game 7. Another said the team is unsure at this time.

Given the highly secretive nature of how teams operate during the Stanley Cup playoffs, specific details about what ails Matthews are difficult to come by.

What is known is that the 26-year-old played sick in Games 3 and 4 of the series before suffering the injury on a harmless hit while playing sick, according to sources. Team doctors removed Matthews from the lineup during the second intermission of Game 4 and he has not been able to participate in a full team skate since.

While Matthews has been on the ice each of the last three days (he went through a 30-minute session with members of the player development staff at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday morning), one of the sources said he would be “ reckless” on your part Try to overcome whatever is hindering you.

In a video filmed by The Hockey News during Thursday’s session, Matthews can be seen performing drills in which he tips pucks, cradles and throws passes and hits one-time shots. He also skated much more than during a brief on-ice session at TD Garden before Game 5 Tuesday morning.

It seemed like progress.

The Leafs extended their season without him in the lineup for a 2-1 overtime victory Tuesday in Boston. Max Domi took Matthews’ place on the top line between Mitch Marner and Tyler Bertuzzi and went 12-2 at the faceoff spot while collecting an assist.

“Domes stepped up,” said teammate Matthew Knies, who scored the game-winning goal in overtime for Toronto. “I think guys like that can step up and play those roles. I think collectively we played as a team and found a way to get the win.”

Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe added: “It’s kind of the human nature piece. You recognize that everyone has to be better (when a player of that caliber is missing).”

Early in the series, Bruins coach Jim Montgomery praised Matthews’ work ethic and called him the most dangerous man on the ice. That was the day after he scored the game-winning goal and added two assists during Toronto’s Game 2 victory at TD Garden.

“The best scorer in the league since he arrived,” Montgomery said Thursday morning. “Great player. But they played very well without him the last game.”

The Leafs only played one game without Matthews during the regular season, beating Pittsburgh 7-0 on December 16 while he was ill, and had never before seen him miss any playoff action during his eight-year NHL career.

It’s been a challenging series on the health front for Toronto, which was without William Nylander for the first three games due to an undisclosed issue after seeing him suit up for every regular season game.

Winger Bobby McMann also has not played against the Bruins due to a lower-body injury suffered on April 13.

But the most irreplaceable player in the Leafs lineup is undoubtedly Matthews, who is coming off a 69-goal season. The team has scored just nine goals in the five-game series, although Boston is taking nothing for granted.

“It’s like when Nylander was out,” Bruins defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said. “Maybe it changes the dynamic of your team. But they are all powerful weapons. Auston is without a doubt the most dangerous man on the ice when he is out there. But I don’t think his game changed that much in the last game. In general, they were simply desperate.

“If he was in the lineup, it probably would have been more of the same.”

Unfortunately for the Leafs, they may have to get used to playing without him to turn this into a long playoff run.

(Photo: Claus Andersen/Getty Images)