Don Cherry speculates Auston Matthews injury owing to Maple Leafs captain's scoring woes in playoffs

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews is drawing attention for not scoring in the playoffs. He has only two goals in ten games this postseason. On Sunday in Game 4, he played just over 20 minutes, had three shots, and no points. He finished the game with an even plus-minus rating.

Don Cherry and his son Tim Cherry discussed Matthews on Episode 307 of "The Don Cherry’s Grapevine Podcast" on Sunday. They believe Matthews might be playing hurt.

"I think he's hurt. He must be, because he's not shooting the way he can," Don said. [09:43]

After scoring 69 goals in the 2023-24 NHL season, Maple Leafs fans were expecting another good season from Auston Matthews. But in the first half of the 2024-25 NHL season, he was struggling with an undisclosed injury. He missed 15 games combined on two different occasions and many considered it could've been a wrist injury. Matthews had wrist surgery during the 2021 offseason.

Tim mentioned that Matthews had blocked a shot with his hand in the series against the Ottawa Senators. That could be affecting his ability to shoot properly.

"You wonder if his hand is hurting," Don said.

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Insider Steven Ellis also suspected Auston Matthews to be injured

NHL analyst Steven Ellis also talked about Auston Matthews' performance on the "Leafs Morning Take" podcast. He said Matthews has the most missed shots among all players in the playoffs. Ellis also said Matthews is still getting chances but doesn’t look like his usual self when shooting.

"Yeah, this is a guy who's got the most missed shots of any player in the playoffs right now," Ellis said. "He's also, I think, second shots in the second round. So he's had these opportunities. He's had a lot of missed opportunities, but high volume shooters will shoot a lot."

Ellis said Matthews contributes to defense, but the team expects goals from him because of his big contract.

"Defensively... there's been some absolute positives there," Ellis said. "But that not why you are paying him the big box... You expect that he's playing injured, because he's not ripping those shots that we're used to... looks a bit more like a Beer League player at times."

Even though Auston Matthews isn’t scoring much, he still helps with playmaking. He got two assists in Game 3 and now has eight assists in ten games. Players like John Tavares and Matthew Knies have stepped up with important goals.

For now, analysts are wondering if Matthews is dealing with a hand issue. The Leafs will hope he recovers and finds his scoring touch again.