After playing in Games 1, 2 and 3, Auston Matthews was pulled between the 2nd and 3rd period in Game 4 due to a mysterious injury/illness. He went on to miss Games 5 and 6 before finally returning in Game 7.
There were a lot of questions and curiosity surrounding Matthews' health status in the series, and most had assumed that after the Leafs were eliminated from the playoffs, the truth would come out. I don't think anyone expected the elimination to happen so soon, given how well the Leafs had played at the end of the series.
Following the Leafs' OT loss to Boston in Game 7, Matthews was asked point blank about his health and what had sidelined him for much of the series. Unfortunately, Matthews was not ready to discuss his health with the media, informing the reporters gathered at TD Garden that it's a conversation for another day.
There has been plenty of speculation surrounding what Matthews' ailment was. Some say it was food poisoning, some say it was a concussion, some say it was a knee injury and some have even speculated that long-COVID was a possibility. At any rate, we don't yet know what kept Matthews on the sidelines and, unfortunately, we may not know for awhile yet.
POLL | ||
MAI 5 | 1190 ANSWERS Auston Matthews ducks media question during post-Game 7 comments What do you think the reason was for Auston Matthews missing time during the Leafs' first round series against Boston? | ||
Food poisoning | 120 | 10.1 % |
Concussion | 309 | 26 % |
Knee injury | 118 | 9.9 % |
Some combination of these things | 643 | 54 % |
List of polls |