Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews, Anthony Stolarz won’t play vs. Kings due to injury

The Toronto Maple Leafs lost a pair of players to injury on Tuesday night vs. the Boston Bruins, and both players will sit out for Thursday night’s game against the Los Angeles Kings.

Matthews took a hit to the letters from Bruins defenceman Nikita Zadorov and later threw a retaliatory hit against the towering defender, and one of these hits triggered something that evolved into a lower-body injury, although it’s unclear which one it was. Stolarz, meanwhile, got hurt sometime in the first period against the Bruins on Tuesday after a net-front scrum, and he’ll be sidelined with an upper-body injury.

In the wake of this news, the Maple Leafs announced that they have re-called goaltender Artur Akhtyamov from the Toronto Marlies, who will likely back up Dennis Hildeby against the Kings.

Despite the injuries coming to a pair of important players, neither are expected to be serious. Matthews had been heating up after a slow start to the season, with nine goals and 14 points in 17 games at the time of his injury. Stolarz, meanwhile, has struggled in a big way so far this season with a record of 6-5-1 along with a goals-against average (GAA) of 3.51 and a save percentage (SV%) of .884.

Berube spoke about the hit that injured Matthews following Tuesday night’s game, saying that he didn’t like what he saw. Clearly, he knew better than to try and call out the officials.

“I think it’s a penalty, personally, but I’m not the referee,” Berube said post-game. “I don’t like it. I don’t like the hit. He’s in a vulnerable position. So, whatever, nothing I can do about it.”

The injuries come at a time when things are going from bad to worse for the Maple Leafs, who have lost three games in a row heading into Tuesday night’s contest. On the bright side for the team, despite their underwhelming 8-8-1 record, they’re still only five points out of first in the division. It’s not pack-it-in time for the team yet, but with teams like the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings showing that they don’t want to be the textbook ‘rebuilding’ teams this year, the Leafs will have to figure it out sooner rather than later if they want to compete for the division. And, they’re going to have to do it in the face of adversity.