Auston Matthews has missed the last two games of Toronto's first-round matchup against the Bruins, coincidentally, the Leafs have also won these two games and forced a seventh, begging the question of whether they are maybe better without him.
One week ago the Toronto Maple Leafs lost Game 4 against the Boston Bruins and went down 3-1 in the series, all but securing their fate of another early trip to the links. Fast forward to today, and the Leafs are hours away from another Game 7 tilt in Boston. Not even many Leafs fans saw hope, and much of that was in large part due to Auston Matthews leaving game 4 during the second intermission with a suspected illness.
In the two games that the Leafs have been without their superstar center, the Leafs have thrived playing a lot more defensively. You get the sense that with Matthews out, the team knows they don't have the same firepower to rely on, making the need for consistent hustle and pressure against the opposition that much greater.
During Matthews' career, the Leafs have gone 35-19-2 without him in the lineup. Those are some alright numbers for a team missing their best player. Ryan Kennedy and Michael Traikos discuss this very topic on Saturday's edition of The Hockey News Pre-Game Show.