Disastrous announcement regarding Leafs' superstar Auston Matthews

The Maple Leafs appear to be preparing for life without Auston Matthews in Game 5 against the Boston Bruins. Once again, Matthews was absent from practice on Monday.

The Leafs have a daunting task in front of them after falling behind 3-1 in their first round series with the big, bad Bruins. If Toronto wants to advance, they will need to win the next three games, beginning Tuesday in Boston. Unfortunately, the latest health update on Auston Matthews is not a positive one. If the Leafs don't have their superstar in the lineup for Game 5, the consequences could be dire.

Matthews, the reigning Rocket Richard Trophy winner, has been battling through an illness during the series, believed to be related to food poisoning, which forced him to miss the third period of Game 4 on Saturday and several practices and morning skates over the course of the last week.

In Matthews' absence, Max Domi was working in #34's usual PP1 position, looking to improve on the team's atrocious 1-for-14 power play conversion rate in the series.



Toronto has only managed to score seven goals through the first four games of this series, with Matthews factoring in on almost half of them. (1 goal and 2 assists)

If Matthews isn't healthy enough to play on Tuesday, it could be the end of Toronto's playoff hopes, which could lead to a very eventful offseason, featuring changes at the front office level, behind the bench and in the locker room.