Auston Matthews won’t play Tuesday for the Toronto Maple Leafs, David Alter of The Hockey News reports.
Sheldon Keefe confirms Auston Matthews will not play tonight vs. PHI. #Leafs @BodogCA
— David Alter (@dalter) April 19, 2022
This will be the second straight game that Matthews has missed due to an undisclosed injury. Matthews is having a fantastic season with 58 goals, 15 on the power play, and 44 assists (all career highs) in 70 games. Matthews, along with teammates Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares, are why the Leafs are hoping this is the season they break their Stanley Cup drought.
The problem is the Leafs will likely have to go through the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning and/or Florida Panthers to get to where they want to go. There will be no easy matchups in the Eastern Conference playoffs this season.
As for Tuesday, the Leafs will faceoff against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers haven’t been a playoff threat since October and that might be another reason why the Leafs are playing it safe and resting Matthews on Tuesday.
The Maple Leafs are +100 (-2.5) on the puck line, -450 on the money line, with an over/under of seven, over (+100), and under (-122). You can find the bars and props for this game and all others at the FanDuel Sportsbook.