Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews is available for Game 7 with Bruins after sitting last 2 games
BOSTON (AP) — Toronto Maple Leafs star and NHL goal-scoring leader Auston Matthews is available for their Game 7 matchup with the Boston Bruins on Saturday night.
Matthews missed the last two games while dealing with an unspecified illness and had just four shots combined in Games 3 and 4. He had the Game 2 winner for the Maples Leafs, who are tied with Boston 3-3 in the first-round series.
Matthews scored 69 goals during the season.
Toronto also announced that goalie Joseph Woll will not play in Game 7 due to an injury sustained in Game 6.
Ilya Samsonov will get the nod between the pipes in his place. Samsonov started the first four games of the series when Toronto fell into a 3-1 hole and was outscored 12-6. He was pulled by coach Sheldon Keefe in the second period of Game 4 after he surrendered three goals on just 17 shots.
Woll started Games 5 and 6, yielding only two goals.
The Maple Leafs are meeting the rival Bruins in the first round of the playoffs for the third time in seven years. The Bruins won the previous two showdowns.
Toronto enters 12-14 all-time in Game 7s. Boston is 15-15.
The Maple Leafs outscored the Bruins 4-2 in wins in Games 5 and 6.
___
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
