'I'm Not Really Going To Address That Right Now': Auston Matthews Hurt? Maple Leafs Star Dodges Questions After Game 7 Elimination

May 18, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews (34) and Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) shake hands after game seven of the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

The Toronto Maple Leafs fell 6-1 to the Florida Panthers in Game 7 of the second-round playoff series against the Florida Panthers on Sunday, but you always wondered if  Auston Matthews was healthy.

The team captain was asked about that following another disappointment in which he wasn't able to generate any offense in a do-or-die game.

"I don’t know. I’m not really going to address that right now," Matthews said. "You go out there and just try to compete and give your all, and that’s what I was trying to do."

Matthews mustered just one goal in his second-round series with the defending Stanley Cup champions and just three for the entire series, despite leading the NHL in shot attempts and missed shots. He came up big for the Leafs when he scored the game-winning goal in Game 6 of their series against Florida, which set up the deciding game.

Before Game 6, Matthews was asked about how he felt physically up until that point.

"I don't think anybody at this point is 100 percent," Matthews said.

Early in the season, Matthews missed nine games in November due to an upper-body injury. The ailment forced Toronto's superstar too seek specialized treatment, he traveled to Germany. Upon his return, he re-aggravated the injury in December, leading to an additional six-game absence. 

Coming off a season in which the star forward scored a club-record 69 goals, Matthews put up 33 goals in 67 games. Although it was a respectable number, it wasn't near the standard the three-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner that Leafs fans had come to expect.

Despite this, Matthews did improve in other areas, putting up 45 assists in those games. But there was always the sense that forward never fully recovered from what was ailing him

Matthews finished the postseason with three goals and eight assists in 11 games, but he was unable to help his team in the deciding game. The star player has no goals and three assists in six career Game 7s.

The star missed a portion of the 2024 first-round series against the Boston Bruins with an undisclosed injury. Generally private about his health, it's unlikely the forward will share more in the coming days when the Leafs clean out their lockers.