What happened to Auston Matthews? Toronto Maple Leafs announce forward's status for remainder of Game 4

Auston Matthews was absent on the bench to start the third period in Game 4 between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins. The Toronto Maple Leafs PR account on X announced that Auston Matthews will not return to tonight's game.

In the post-game interview, Sheldon Keefe said Auston Matthews was pulled from the game by the team doctor because of the illness he had been dealing with this week.

Matthews had been recovering from an illness which had forced him to miss a team practice between Games 3 and 4.

Near the end of the second period, Auston Matthews was frustrated alongside Mitch Marner and others on the Leafs bench. He did not seem to have an injury as he exited the second period, but the Maple Leafs are yet to disclose the reason behind his absence for the remainder of Game 4.

Toronto Maple Leafs lost 3-1 with the only goal from Mitch Marner earlier in the third period. Brad Marchand, James van Riemsdyk and David Pastrnak were the goal scorers for the Boston Bruins.

Bruins have locked down Auston Matthews so far this playoff series

Auston Matthews came into this series as the league's regular season top scorer with 69 goals. He was on track to score 70 goals and break more league and franchise records but fell short by just one goal.

Boston Bruins have had the perfect plan to shut down Matthews in three of the four games so far in this series. The standout being Game 2 in Boston when No. 34 put three points on the board in a Toronto Maple Leafs win.

In Game 1, Auston Matthews played for 20:53 minutes with 5 shots-on-goal but did not score any points. The Leafs lost Game 1, 5-1 with the only Leaf goal being scored by David Kampf.

In Game 2, Matthews showed his offensive prowess and guided the Maple Leafs to a 3-2 win away from home. He had two assists and one goal, involving himself in all three of the Leafs' goals that game, amassing three points in 23:24 minutes of ice time.

Moving to Toronto for Game 3, the Bruins managed to lock down Matthews yet again. With a 23:16 TOI, he registered only three shots. The Leafs lost 4-2 and gained a 2-1 series lead.

In Game 4, Auston Matthews was present in the game only for the first 40 minutes. He did not return for the third period after team doctors pulled him out citing his illness as the reason. Given he did not play in the third period, Matthews clocked 14:15 TOI and had three shots before his exit.