Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews, Anthony Stolarz leave Tuesday's game due to injury

Tuesday's game in Boston has dealt a blow to the Toronto Maple Leafs: the team announced that Auston Matthews and Anthony Stolarz will not return due to injury.

Matthews has been designated as a lower-body injury, after taking a hit from behind into the boards from Nikita Zadorov. Meanwhile, Stolarz exited after playing the entire first period. With the Leafs off to a rough start, it appeared the team was just shaking things up between the pipes, but now, the team’s No. 1 goaltender has been listed with an upper-body ailment on top of their superstar captain’s injury. 

Toronto is still trying to find its way, in its new, post- “core four” era. 8-7-1, the team has fallen to second-to-last in the Atlantic, despite scoring the most goals in their division entering Tuesday. Sinking the Leafs has been in good part their own end, as they’ve allowed 60. 

Matthews, always subject to criticism whether more warranted or not, has done his part with nine goals in 16 games. Now 28, he has been mostly durable in his first nine professional seasons, averaging just shy of 70 games a year. While a hit into the boards from behind from a player like Zadorov sounds highly alarming, it was a relatively routine play. Matthews got up, finished a check on Zadorov moments later in the corner, then skated to the bench without seeming bothered. The captain went to the locker room, but all things considered, it hopefully is not a major injury. 

Meanwhile, Stolarz completed the first frame before Dennis Hildeby took over in net. Given that he had let in three goals on 10 shots, the update from the team that Stolarz is injured came as a bit of a surprise. The 31-year-old former top Philadelphia Flyers prospect is the latest example of a late-blooming goaltender, tasked with holding things down for Toronto into the near future. Stolarz was extended for four more years at $3.75M after a strong 2024-25, where he posted a .926 in 34 games in his first campaign wearing the blue and white. 

Having lost Cayden Primeau off waivers to the Carolina Hurricanes last week after a short stint, Toronto is thin in net if Stolarz is set to miss any time. Hildeby, 24, has just eight NHL games under his belt. Joseph Woll is being worked back gradually after taking personal leave. Woll has been practicing with the team and appeared with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies last weekend, but has no timetable to return yet. 

The Maple Leafs are back in action on Thursday, hosting the Los Angeles Kings, and updates on the status of their superstar, and No. 1 goaltender, will be watched urgently in the meantime.