Leafs Captain Auston Matthews Suffers Apparent Injury During Game 5

The Maple Leafs and Senators are going toe-to-toe tonight in Toronto in an all-important Game 5 with some huge implications for both teams.

If the Senators win, they'll force a Game 6 back in Ottawa on Thursday. If the Leafs win, they'll punch their ticket to the 2nd Round, awaiting the winners of the Lightning-Panthers series.

Unfortunately for the Leafs, if they want to beat the Senators in Game 5, they'll have to do so with Auston Matthews playing at less than 100% after the Leafs captain blocked a shot with his hand in the early stages of the first period.

The shot Matthews took off of the hand really stung him, and shortly after the block, Matthews was spotted sitting on the bench with an ice pack on the injured hand.

Matthews has remained in the game thus far, but with the litany of injuries he has dealt with in recent years, specifically the hand and wrist injuries he has battled through, this is somewhat concerning.

Matthews had already missed practice on Monday for extra rest, so it will be interesting to see how the Leafs move forward with his usage, both in games and during practices moving forward.

Hopefully, we'll receive an update either from Matthews himself or head coach Craig Berube following tonight's game.