The Leafs overcame adversity on Saturday night in Ottawa, coming back from 3 separate deficits in the contest to force overtime, where Mark Giordano would play the role of OT hero in enemy territory for the Leafs. The Buds came away with two very big points, but the Sens appear to have hit them where it hurts.
According to Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe, by way of The Leafs Nation's David Alter, Auston Matthews will not play on Sunday after suffering an injury against the Senators on Saturday. The silver-lining here is that Keefe says the injury is believed to be minor.
Matthews is currently sitting on 58 goals and is running out of runway to get to the 60-goal plateau - something that hasn't been done since Steven Stamkos pulled it off back in 2011-12. We don't yet know how much time Matthews will miss. At this point, the Leafs are calling his issue a "day-to-day" one.
With Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl just 4 goals back of Matthews in the Rocket Richard Trophy race, any length of a Matthews absence could provide Draisaitl with the opportunity he needs to draw even with the 24-year-old goalscoring phenom - possibly even pass him. However, the Oilers do not play again until Wednesday, so Matthews would have to miss the next 3 games for Draisaitl to gain an advantage.
Matthews being sidelined tonight means that his next opportunity to play will come on Tuesday against the Philadelphia Flyers or Thursday against a division rival Tampa Bay Lightning who are just 4 points back of the Leafs for 2nd in the Atlantic. The NHL's leading goal scorer has 102 points in just 70 games this season.
