Sheldon Keefe shares problematic news on Auston Matthews

During last night's Game 4 loss to Boston, the Toronto Maple Leafs' doctors pulled Auston Matthews from the game. Now, we have some more insight as to why.

After being spotted on the bench bickering with teammates Mitch Marner and William Nylander near the end of the 2nd period in last night's 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins, Auston Matthews was absent for the entire third period.

At the time, there wasn't much information to go on, other than the fact that he was believed to be dealing with some type of food poisoning. Following the game, Sheldon Keefe had informed the media that it was actually the Leafs' medical staff who shut Matthews down for the night, with some reports suggesting Matthews required an IV bag in the third period.

On Sunday, Sheldon Keefe spoke with the Toronto media once again, sharing as much information as he could about Matthews' mysterious illness. Unfortunately, we don't yet know whether Matthews will play in Game 5 - though the assumption is that he will.




The timing of Matthews' illness couldn't be worse. If it is food poisoning he's dealing with, there's no fast track back to good health, which is truly unfortunate.

The illness has obviously impacted Matthews' game. After a brilliant 3-point outing in Game 2, Matthews has looked off in Games 3 and 4. If the Leafs can't get him back to his old self before Tuesday's meeting with the Bruins back in Boston, they'll be right back to square one, cleaning out their lockers at the end of April instead of playing into May and June.