Maple Leafs lose Matthews, Stolarz to injuries in loss to Bruins – The Hockey Writer – NHL News

The Toronto Maple Leafs lost more than just one game to the Boston Bruins tonight. Unfortunately, they also lost captain Auston Matthews and starting goalkeeper Anthony Stolarz to injury.

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On top of that, they’ve now lost three in a row and look like a completely different team than last season. Now, they’ll have to deal with injuries that are starting to pile up. As the old saying goes: when it rains, it pours.

Maple leaves bitten by pests

Let’s start with Matthews. He was injured by a heavy blow from Nikita Zadorov. The impact came from behind and he looked like he was going to hit the board, but it was too far away to call it a “boarding”. Still, he’s in a weak position with his back to the game. Matthews stood up, tried to take a shot at Zadorov, finished his shift, then walked to the bench and straight into the locker room.

After the game, head coach Craig Berube said he would be evaluated. He also shared his thoughts on the hit:

“I personally think it was a penalty but I’m not a referee. I don’t like it. I don’t like the impact. He was in a weak position. So, anyway, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

As for Stolarz, he was pulled from the game in the first quarter. He conceded three goals on 11 shots and was ejected from the game. However, after being pulled, he never returned to the bench. This sparked a lot of debate on social media and even the broadcast team, who wanted to know where he had gone and why he hadn’t returned. In the third quarter, the Maple Leafs announced that he suffered an upper-body injury and was unable to return. After the game, Berube said it was just an adjustment and he didn’t think it was serious. It will be interesting to see if Wall is called up from practice with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies if he does miss Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Kings.

Now, as the Maple Leafs try to get through this rough patch, they also need to figure out how to play without their captain, who could miss time. That could open the door for players like Easton Cowan to get called back and show what they can do. First, though, we have to see what happens in the next few days.