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Auston Matthews Makes Injury Admission After Maple Leafs' Game 7 Loss

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Spencer Garrett Ostrow | Last updated May 20, 2025 1:07 PM ET

The Toronto Maple Leafs lost 6–1 to the Florida Panthers in Game 7 of their second-round Stanley Cup Playoff series on Sunday night. This marks the Leafs’ seventh consecutive Game 7 loss—and this one came after they led the series two games to none.

Captain Auston Matthews once again failed to put the puck in the back of the net when it mattered most. In his nine NHL seasons, the Leafs have reached the second round just twice (2023, 2025). Matthews has now played in 12 career second-round games and has scored just one goal, which came in Game 6 of this year’s series.

After lighting it up with 69 goals last season and adding 33 this year, Matthews simply hasn’t looked like the same player in the postseason. That’s led to growing speculation—has he been playing hurt, or is the pressure just too much?

On Tuesday, Matthews met with the media and confirmed that he’s been dealing with an injury dating back to training camp.

"Physically, it was a very tough season," Matthews said. "I don’t want to get into the specifics of stuff. . . I’m confident with some time off I’ll be back 100% next season."

Matthews on his health, saying he first got injured in training camp: “Physically, it was a very tough season. I don’t want to get into the specifics of stuff. . . I’m confident with some time off I’ll be back 100% next season.”

Asked if his injury affected his shot, he said his…
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Matthews called his season, in terms of dealing with the injury, a ‘roller coaster."

“There were good stretches, there were stretches that weren't so good, it was just kind of a bit of a roller coaster, unfortunately, throughout the whole season, throughout the playoffs, just on a day to day basis," Matthews added.

This season, the 27-year-old and 2016 No. 1 overall pick missed 15 games—the most he’s missed since the 2017–18 NHL season.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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