Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe provided an update on Auston Matthews’ status after the superstar forward was pulled from Saturday’s Game 4 against the Boston Bruins. Matthews was ruled out after the second intermission with an initially undisclosed reason but Keefe revealed Saturday that the team’s doctors made the decision to take him out of the game due to a lingering illness he’s been fighting through. Keefe provided further details during Sunday’s media availability. “For whatever reason, it’s not one of those run-of-the-mill everyday type of illnesses that sort of come and g ..read more

When starting to write this series I think there was either optimism or naivety involved. I didn’t account for how difficult it would be to come up with positive takeaways as the Leafs neared elimination, especially when there wasn’t a sense of urgency in the performance to get there. (Sheldon Keefe is happy with the effort, so I’ll blame the lack of urgency.) Here are the positive and negative numbers from a Saturday to forget: +plus Joseph Woll stopped the five shots he faced. That certainly doesn’t sound like much but three of those were high-danger shots on the Bruins’ power play, so that ..read more

The Toronto Maple Leafs are a mess and the home crowd let them hear all about it throughout their 3-1 Game 4 loss to the hands of the Boston Bruins. Adequate effort level? Debatable. Execution level? Non-existent. Walking into Scotiabank Arena there was a buzz in the city. The fans were hooting and hollering on the sidewalks, the concourse was full of ‘Go Leafs Go’ chants before warmup even started and the optimism was pouring through the veins of Leafs Nation. 15 minutes after puck drop, the positive vibes all came crashing down. The start of the game was a feeling out process, with mostly ev ..read more

Coming off a tough 4-2 loss to the Boston Bruins in Game 3 on Wednesday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs welcomed William Nylander back into the lineup, along with T.J. Brodie, in hopes of bouncing back in Game 4 before heading out on the road to Boston for Game 5. First period: Similarly to Game 3, the atmosphere inside Scotiabank Arena before the puck drop was electric. And with the home team trailing 2-1 in the best-of-seven series, the crowd needed to rally behind the group in hopes of a win. Within the first few shifts of the period, the Maple Leafs got the crowd on its feet with some big h ..read more

After losing 3-1 in Game 4 to fall behind the Bruins 3-1 in the series, some news was delivered regarding the health of Auston Matthews. With the Leafs headed into second intermission down 3-0 to the Boston Bruins, what felt like a final dagger was delivered when it was announced that Matthews would not return to the game. It was revealed afterwards that he was pulled due to reasons relating to the illness he had been battling over the past couple of days. Keefe says Auston Matthews was pulled from the game by team doctors related to an illness. — David Alter (@dalter) April 28, 2024 Matthew ..read more

With the Toronto Maple Leafs on the ropes after a disheartening showing in Game 4, Sheldon Keefe decided not to read the room when assessing his team’s play. Let’s hear it from Keefe, via Sports Illustrated’s David Alter: Keefe: "Nothing wrong with our effort level here tonight. Guys are competing. It's physical hockey. Guys are trying. It's a good team over there. It's limiting us. You can question a lot of things, can't question the effort." — David Alter (@dalter) April 28, 2024 He is not wrong in saying that the Leafs were competing: they were fighting over which tee time to book for lat ..read more

There are a lot of things that went wrong for the Maple Leafs on Saturday night and being downed 3-1 in the game as well as 3-1 in the series probably take precedence for the concerns. Part of the side show was that tempers boiled over on the bench and it is clear that Auston Matthews and William Nylander weren’t in the mood for Mitch Marner late in the second period. Frustration has started to set in for the Maple Leafs stars ? pic.twitter.com/PbnQBNigKD — Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 28, 2024 Not everything that was said can easily be deciphered through lip reading, but it seems very likel ..read more

This is the darkest hour of the Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner era. There’s no way around it. After submitting one of the most listless performances of the past decade, the Toronto Maple Leafs are on the verge of elimination, falling 3-1 to the Boston Bruins in Game Four. Matthews did not return to the game with an undisclosed injury after the second period. It was revealed post-game that Matthews was dealing with the same illness that he’s been battling through the series. Marner, subject to much pre-game consternation, scored the Maple Leafs’ only goal but was otherwise moving around at half-s ..read more

If you were a skeptic of the way this Leafs team was built this season, you’re likely feeling vindicated right now. With an opportunity to head back to Boston with a split at home and a chance to tie the series, the Leafs delivered an effort that was akin to Game 7 against Montreal in 2020-21 and finished by the same score of 3-1. If you didn’t watch that game or don’t know how it went, that’s not a good thing. From the minute the puck dropped in the first period, they didn’t have their legs. Boston smothered them at every opportunity, and on the rare occasion a shot did get through, it was se ..read more

The Toronto Maple Leafs needed to come away with the win in Game 2 to head home with a chance to take a 2-1 series lead. Unfortunately, despite tying the series up in Boston, the same mistakes that hurt them in Game 1 crept up in their game on Wednesday, ultimately putting them in a 2-1 series hole entering tonight’s Game 4. After a brilliant performance from Toronto’s top line of Bertuzzi-Matthews-Domi in Game 2, along with finally scoring a power play goal, the same couldn’t be said in Wednesday night’s 4-2 loss. The trio couldn’t replicate their performance of a combined six points, but sti ..read more