Leafs confirm Auston Matthews' official status for Game 6

Auston Matthews has officially been ruled out for Game 6 by the Maple Leafs.

The Leafs were able to stave off elimination on Tuesday without Matthews in the lineup, taking the razor close 2-1 overtime win in Boston, but the idea of taking 3 straight games from the Bruins seems like very wishful thinking. The Bruins won all 4 meetings against the Leafs during the regular season, and both Leafs wins in the playoffs have been very close games. If the Leafs want to take Game 6 on home ice to send the series back to Boston for Game 7, they'll have to put forth a near perfect effort, because you know the Bruins are going to come out flying tonight.

Matthews has been battling illness and/or injury since very early on in the series. A huge Game 2 performance from #34 seemed to indicate that he was heating up in the series, but when it was reported that Matthews was playing under the weather in Game 3 and then was pulled during Game 4 by team doctors, it became very clear very quickly that something wasn't quite right.

Max Domi drew 1st line center duties in Matthews' absence on Tuesday, so it's almost a guarantee that he'll draw the same assignment tonight at home in Toronto.

Obviously, when your leading scorer isn't available to play in the playoffs, it's a tough pill to swallow. However, the Leafs have had that "next man up" mentality all season long. They'll need every single player on the roster to bring their best tonight to avoid summer beginning early in Toronto - something that this franchise is far too used to.