Topi Niemela

Unlike Game 5, we won’t have to wait until warmups of tonight’s Game 6 to know whether star Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews will be available. He’s already been ruled out of the lineup as Toronto aims to push the series back to Boston for a Game 7, head coach Sheldon Keefe said this morning (via The Toronto Sun’s Lance Hornby).

Matthews hasn’t played since the second period of Toronto’s Game 4 loss, missing Game 5 with what multiple reports indicate is a combination of an illness and an undisclosed injury. The Leafs responded well to keep their season alive without him on Tuesday, outshooting Boston 33-28 en route to an overtime win off the stick of rookie Matthew Knies.

After scoring a franchise-record 69 goals in the regular season, Matthews was held without a point in three of his four appearances in the series thus far. He did have a dominant performance in Game 2, though, factoring in on every goal Toronto scored in a 3-2 win.

His line with Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi has been the most high-event trio Toronto has iced, leading them in both expected goals for (4.68) and expected goals against (4.83) per 60 minutes, per MoneyPuck. Domi shifted to center between Bertuzzi and Mitch Marner for Game 5, controlling 65.7% of shot attempts and factoring in on defenseman Jake McCabe’s game-opening goal. That trio projects to stay together tonight.

Other updates ahead of Game 6, tonight at 7 p.m. CT:

• Leafs depth forward Bobby McMann is “progressing” in his recovery from a lower-body injury that’s kept him from making his playoff debut, but Keefe said today he isn’t close to returning and shouldn’t be expected back tonight or for a potential Game 7. McMann, 27, had 15 goals and 24 points with a +13 rating in a career-high 56 appearances in the regular season but hasn’t been a full participant in practice since sustaining the injury on April 10 against the Red Wings.
• Toronto’s AHL club was eliminated by the Belleville Senators in a best-of-three First Round series in the Calder Cup Playoffs earlier this week. With Marlies players’ seasons done, the Leafs added nine players to their playoff roster, per CapFriendly. Forwards Nicholas Abruzzese, Kyle Clifford, Dylan Gambrell and Alex Steeves; defensemen Mikko Kokkonen, Maxime Lajoie, Topi Niemelä and Marshall Rifai; and goaltender Dennis Hildeby are now available to dress for Stanley Cup Playoff games for the Leafs if needed.
• Switching over to the Bruins’ side, forward Danton Heinen will not be in the lineup for Game 6 due to an undisclosed injury, The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa reports. He’s listed as day-to-day, and while he hasn’t missed any game action yet in the series, he’s missed some practices over the last few days. Now in his second stint in Boston, the 28-year-old has been riding shotgun on the first line with Pavel Zacha and David Pastrňák for most of the series but has been moved down the lineup after managing a lone assist and a -1 rating in five games. Rookie John Beecher is expected to re-enter the Boston lineup in a fourth-line role alongside Jesper Boqvist and Pat Maroon after being scratched in Game 5.