Auston Matthews did not play the third period of Game 4 of the series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins due to a virus.
This was revealed by coach Sheldon Keefe after the Queen City FC's 3-1 defeat on Saturday. The sharpshooter had reportedly been ill in recent days, and club doctors deemed it best that he not play the final 20 minutes, even though the Leafs were trailing 3-0 at the time.
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“He gave us everything he had, but the doctors made a decision,” Keefe said.
Matthews and other team leaders were photographed arguing in the second period. The exchanges seemed very difficult and undoubtedly tinged with a certain touch of frustration.
“We have a lot of expectations from each other and we love each other. We push ourselves to do better,” William Nylander explained in a press conference.
“We're adults,” responded Mitch Marner, Toronto's lone scorer. We're talking about specific games where we want to make sure everyone is on the same page. We know what we are doing. It overflowed a little at that point. We don't yell at each other because we hate each other.
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