Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews out for Game 6: What we’re hearing about his injury and timeline

The Toronto Maple Leafs need to win another game without Auston Matthews to extend their season and give their top scorer a chance to get healthy enough to return.

Whether that could happen for Game 7, should the Maple Leafs beat the Boston Bruins on Thursday, still hasn’t been determined.

According to multiple sources briefed on the matter, the Leafs are taking a day-by-day approach to Matthews’ recovery. He hasn’t yet been ruled out for anything beyond Game 6, but he’s obviously dealing with a significant issue to miss two potential elimination games.

One source briefed on the matter said Matthews playing a potential Game 7 is unlikely. Another said the team is uncertain at this point.

Given the highly secretive nature of how teams operate during the Stanley Cup playoffs, specific details about what is ailing Matthews are difficult to come by.

What is known is that the 26-year-old played through illness in Games 3 and 4 of the series before suffering an injury on an innocuous hit while playing sick, according to the sources. Team doctors removed Matthews from the lineup during the second intermission of Game 4 and he’s been unable to participate in a full team skate since.

While Matthews has taken to the ice each of the past three days — he went through a 30-minute session with members of the player development staff at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday morning — one of the sources said it would be “reckless” for him to try and play through whatever is hampering him.