The plot has thickened ahead of Game 4 in Sunrise as Auston Matthews wasn’t on the ice for the morning skate.

That said, the Leafs did disclose that the captain will play, so that’s good.

For the final time this week, I was on location at Amerant Bank Arena – the site of Game 4 – for a special Sunday edition of Leafs Morning Take. We kicked off the show by discussing that tough loss for the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night. 0.4 remaining on the clock! Ouch.

After that, we dove into a game preview. As the show progressed, Auston Matthews became the main story. In fact, we had Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis join us from the Leafs’ morning skate to weigh in on what could possibly be ailing the captain. Bottom line: Matthews needs to find a way to push through, or Toronto likely won’t win this series.

Furthermore, the goaltending will be the key to everything. Even though Craig Berube fully supported his goalie after Game 3, there’s no question that Joseph Woll can play better. On top of that, the Leafs need to continue to get to Sergei Bobrovsky. The future Hall-of-Famer has surrendered 13 goals on 81 shots on goal so far in the series.

Additionally, we gave some love to the Lorentz, Laughton, Jarnkrok trio. They’ve been dialled in.  All in all, just like Florida’s third line last game, Toronto’s bottom six could prove to be the biggest key to finding success here in Round 2. With that in mind, for the first time maybe ever, the Core Four has pulled its weight combining for 44 points in Toronto’s nine playoff games. If the depth scoring can continue to be there, the Leafs should be in a good position following tonight’s game

At any rate, Carter Hutton will fill in for Jay Rosehill on the Monday edition of Leafs Morning Take. We’ll be in Florida for our final show before going back home. Join us at 11 AM ET for a full recap of Game 4. Go Leafs Go!

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