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1 hour ago
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It's certainly adding injury to insult, if you will.
Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews, amid a nightmare stretch for the Leafs and for himself personally on the ice, is hurt.
Matthews took a big knee-on-knee hit from Radko Gudas on Thursday night.
The superstar center had to leave the game and didn't return due to the left knee injury.
Gudas was given a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct, resulting in his ejection.
Radko Gudas received a 5-minute major and a game misconduct for kneeing Auston Matthews.
Matthews has since left the game 🤕 pic.twitter.com/E8lc8MjvJh
Maple Leafs fans are calling on Toronto to shut down Matthews for the rest of the season.
Logistically, it makes sense. They only keep their draft pick for the 2026 first round if it's in the top-five selections. The more they tank the home stretch, the better.
Obviously, tanking is tough on the players, and if Matthews is on the ice, he's trying to win. This injury definitely shows the risk of leaving Matthews out there, though.
Toronto will just hope to avoid any worst-case scenarios here, because a bounceback 2026-27 season would include a healthy, productive Matthews.
Regardless, this is the kind of thing that just makes sense to have happened amid a brutal campaign for the Maple Leafs.
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