Toronto Maple Leafs centre Auston Matthews during Game 3 against the Boston Bruins, in Toronto, on April 24.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
Auston Matthews was back on the Scotiabank Arena ice.
That won’t be the case when his Maple Leafs once again face elimination Thursday night.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe said following the morning skate the star sniper would be unavailable for Game 6 with Toronto down 3-2 in its first-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins.
Matthews was pulled from Game 4 with an illness and didn’t suit up in Tuesday’s 2-1 overtime road victory at TD Garden as the Leafs kept their hopes alive.
The 26-year-old centre, who led the NHL with the league’s first 69-goal regular season in almost three decades, skated Wednesday and again Thursday for about 30 minutes before Toronto’s playing group took the ice.
But the team’s best player will once again have to watch with the Leafs, who were minus star winger William Nylander for the first three contests of the best-of-seven matchup, again on the brink.
“It’s the nature of the game, the sport,” Leafs captain John Tavares said of dealing with big-name absences. “Guys responded really well last game. We gotta play together as a group, everyone stepping up and doing more.
“Not one guy trying to fill his shoes.”
Game 7, if necessary, would be Saturday in Boston.
The three-time Maurice (Rocket) Richard Trophy winner as the NHL’s top goal-scorer, Matthews had a monster three-point Game 2 to help Toronto even the series 1-1, but didn’t look like himself two nights later in a 4-2 loss.
He then missed practice Friday for what the team initially called “maintenance.” Matthews was on the ice Saturday morning ahead of Game 4 and tried to give it a go before being pulled from the action by doctors in the second intermission of a disappointing 3-1 setback that left no margin for error.
The Leafs have a pair of victories without Matthews in 2023-24, including a 7-0 regular-season victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in mid-December.
“It just shows the strength of the group and the importance of the group,” Keefe said. “Not looking to others to do the job, but just doing your part and then trusting that the group will find a way to prevail in the end.”
Leafs rookie winger Nick Robertson said there’s a “desperation aspect” without Matthews in the lineup.
“Realizing that we don’t have a nearly-70-goal-scorer,” he said. “We’ve got to find a way to produce and play well.”
Toronto is 1-16 all-time when trailing a series 3-1, but Boston blew the same lead last season in the first round against the Florida Panthers.
Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said the Leafs showed what they’re capable of without Matthews in Game 5.
“Tremendous player – best goal-scorer in the league since he came in,” he said. “Great player, but they played great without him.”
Matthews became the first NHLer since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96 to reach 69 goals, falling just one short of becoming the ninth in history to hit 70.
Keefe was asked before Game 5 if there’s something other than an illness bothering his sniper, but declined to answer.
“Every guy’s stepped up and played a different role, maximized their opportunity,” said rookie forward Matthew Knies, who scored the OT winner in Game 5. “We have a lot of guys in this room that can step up when their name is called.”
Tavares, who had to watch most of the 2021 post-season after suffering head and neck injuries in Game 1, said it’s difficult to not be in the battle with teammates.
“This is what you work for all year, starting in the off-season through training camp and earning a spot in the playoffs to compete for the Stanley Cup,” he said. “It’s what drives you, and to have that chance to be out there to compete and help your team, especially when you go through the journey all year long.
“It’s not easy.”