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Auston Matthews skipping Toronto Maple Leafs practice raises eyebrows

Adam Laskaris
Adam Laskaris
|
Apr 28 2025, 3:34 pm
Auston Matthews skipping Toronto Maple Leafs practice raises eyebrows
John E. Sokolowski/Imagn Images

The Toronto Maple Leafs were without their biggest star at Monday morning’s practice.

Though the Leafs are officially citing “rest” as the reason for his absence, Auston Matthews raised a few eyebrows by sitting out of the team’s skate one day ahead of Tuesday’s Game 5 at Scotiabank Arena.

Matthews’ absence does at least raise a few preliminary questions about whether he’s operating at full health, or perhaps dealing with a lingering issue.

Given that the Leafs took Sunday off following a 4-3 overtime loss on Saturday to give the Ottawa Senators their first win of the series, it is a bit curious that Matthews needs a rest day.

With NHL teams being notoriously tight-lipped about player health status, particularly in the playoffs, we likely won’t get a good answer as to what exactly is going on with Toronto’s captain.

Matthews has one goal and four assists in four games so far for the Leafs. A year removed from a franchise-record setting 69-goal campaign, it was a down year offensively for Matthews, who put up 33 goals and 45 assists in 67 games this year for the team, missing two different stretches for an upper-body injury in November through January.

Outside of Matthews taking the day off, Toronto’s lines remain largely unchanged from what they’ve used since Game 3, as per The Hockey News’ David Alter:

  • Matthew Knies-David Kampf*-Mitch Marner
  • Pontus Holmberg-John Tavares-William Nylander
  • Max Pacioretty-Max Domi–Bobby McMann
  • Steven Lorentz-Scott Laughton-Calle Jarnkrok

*Kampf is slotting in Matthews’ spot, though he’s projected to play tomorrow.

“I look at the minutes. Played a lot of minutes last game,” Leafs head coach Craig Berube said, per the Toronto Sun’s Terry Koshan. “I have conversations with guys about it. They feel like they need a little more rest, I think it’s a good thing.”

On the backend, they’ll be running the following pairs:

  • Jake McCabe – Chris Tanev
  • Morgan Rielly – Brandon Carlo
  • Simon Benoit – Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Anthony Stolarz is Toronto’s projected starter once again, while Joseph Woll missed Monday’s practice due to feeling under the weather.

With Toronto up three games to one in the series, they’ll have a chance of ending it Tuesday night on home ice. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET at Scotiabank Arena, with the game broadcast nationally on CBC and Sportsnet.

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