Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews had another quiet outing as his team dropped a second straight game in their Eastern Conference Second Round series against the Florida Panthers. Matthews’ lack of production has fueled speculation that the power forward may not be fully healthy. He had a relatively subdued regular season by his standards, missing 15 games with a recurring upper-body injury.
NHL Insider: Maple Leafs Captain Auston Matthews ‘Doesn’t Look 100%’
Hockey analyst David Alter, who covers the Maple Leafs for The Hockey News, appeared on TSN’s “First Up” podcast to discuss Matthews’ struggles in the postseason. Alter pointed to Matthews’ below-average playoff numbers and suggested the star might still be battling an injury.
“You can say all you want about the shot generation and that he’s getting a lot of chances, but you can see his shot placement is just not there,” Alter said. “Like Auston Matthews, when he’s fully healthy, he’s taking his time, putting everything into a wrister, and placing a puck exactly where he wants it to go. That’s not happening with Auston Matthews in these playoffs.”
.@dalter on Auston Matthews' lack of goal scoring, how the Panthers took advantage of having the last change & potential lineup changes for Game 5#LeafsForever #TimeToHunt https://t.co/AuYVSVfQ6m
— First Up (@FirstUp1050)
Matthews has just two goals and eight assists in 10 playoff games. Both goals came against the Ottawa Senators in Round 1. He has yet to find the back of the net against the Panthers. Alter also called out fellow forward Mitch Marner, emphasizing that Toronto’s stars need to elevate their offensive output if the team hopes to make a serious run.
“Matthews and Marner have kinda gone absent in this series… [Matthews] doesn’t look 100% out there. It is a concern. And I just don’t know where you’re going to make up that offense.”
Toronto started the series strong with two straight wins over Florida. But the Panthers responded with victories in Games 3 and 4 on home ice, evening the series with three games left to play. Florida’s most recent win was a 2-0 shutout on Sunday, May 11, at Amerant Bank Arena.
The Panthers outshot the Leafs 37-23 in the game. Despite the loss, Toronto head coach Craig Berube praised backup goalie Joseph Woll, who stopped 35 shots and kept the game within reach.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Matthews admitted he’s feeling some pressure to get on the scoresheet.
“The chances have been there, I think I just gotta do a better job of bearing down on some of them. For the most part throughout the four games, we’ve been winning shifts, generating chances against tough matchups. Obviously, you wanna score, I wanna score, but we’ll continue to get those opportunities and capitalize and go from there,” Matthews said.
With the series now tied and momentum swinging back and forth, Toronto will need Matthews — and the rest of its top line — to step up fast if the Leafs want to avoid another early playoff exit.