Doctor provides his assessment of Auston Matthews' injury

While the Maple Leafs are still claiming illness is keeping Auston Matthews out of the lineup, many, including one doctor, suspect an injury.

As the Maple Leafs continue to cling to life in their first round series against the Boston Bruins, they are still being forced to do so without Auston Matthews. At this point, we know he won't be lacing them up for Game 6, and is unlikely to be available should the Leafs push the series to Game 7. What people are beginning to question now is the story from the Maple Leafs themselves. Is Auston really sick, or is there an injury that the Leafs are trying to hide?

In the playoffs, even the suspicion of an injury will lead to a player being targeted. That's why teams typically stay tight lipped until the curtain falls on their season. This could easily be the case with Auston Matthews as well. In fact, a fan went back and found a clip from game 4 that appears to show a potential injury occurring. On its own, it's not much, but when a medical doctor specializing in sports medicine weighs in, that gets our attention.




A knee injury would explain both Matthews' absence from the lineup and the short skates he's been taking before practices. The skates don't seem long enough to test his cardio much, but to test out the stability of an injured knee? Maybe.

I'm no doctor, but I have had knee injuries and that "loose" feeling completely takes away your confidence in your ability to move. Without that stability, there's not much he can do on a pair of skates. He may have been feeling under the weather earlier in the series, but I'm starting to believe that there's more to the story than that. Unfortunately the only way we are likely to find out is after the Leafs' season ends, and I'm not ready for that. Not yet.