Anxious Maple Leafs await Auston Matthews' COVID test result – Toronto Sun

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The best teams in the NHL are hard-pressed to stop Auston Matthews, but COVID-19 certainly can.

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With the greatest anxiety come Tuesday morning, the Maple Leafs await results of Matthews’ PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test to see if their top scorer and the league’s first star of the month in December will miss a few days. Matthews and assistant coach Dean Chynoweth both tested positive with a rapid test prior to Monday’s practice and were kept off the ice as a precaution.

“No symptoms for either guy,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the workout, in which Timothy Liljegren had just become the last of 10-plus Leafs players to be cleared from COVID protocol. “There have been instances where those rapid tests have been false. So, that’s why they were both (deemed) precautionary and removed from today. We’ll await confirmation in the morning.”

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The most important outcome is full health for both men and beyond that, the hope Matthews can play in two high-profile games this week. The Leafs host Connor McDavid and Matthews’ former Leafs’ linemate Zach Hyman on Wednesday. Coincidentally, McDavid was held out of Edmonton’s morning skate in Manhattan Monday morning, but it wasn’t COVID-related. The Leafs then launch a four-game U.S. trip Saturday in Denver against Nathan MacKinnon and the Avalanche.

Matthews, who had 10 goals and four assists in seven games last month as part of his 10-game points streak, also won’t want to miss next Wednesday in Arizona, his first regular-season appearance on his home state since Nov. 21, 2019. The COVID quarantine for NHLers was just lowered from five days, down from 10.

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Defenceman Jake Muzzin, out of protocol last week, but not in well enough game shape to play in Saturday’s 6-0 win over Ottawa, said Toronto’s dressing room, like the rest of the world, is learning to live with the daily uncertainty of whom might get it next.

“You never know what we’re in for here. Losing two guys today and almost the whole team has been through it. You’re trying to stay active while at home, but there’s not much to do on the ice.

“It’s ‘next-man-up’ mentality and keep pushing forward. I’m feeling good and should be ready to go shortly.”

When the Ontario government tightened sanctions on indoor events Monday morning, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment confirmed it would no longer allow the 1,000 or less friends and family it permitted at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday, restricting it to essential team and game operations personnel.

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“I think it’s the world we live in right now,” said forward Alex Kerfoot. “We want to move past this as quick as we can, but COVID is lingering a long time.”

Liljegren was ready to step in Saturday, but his recovery period meant taxi squader Alex Biega got the start and now it appears both he and Biega will sit Wednesday with Muzzin’s return.

“It sucks,” said Liljegren of the timing and that he was asymptomatic. “I thought I was in the clear.”

Keefe was one of many team staffers to have been placed in protocol and has tried to run as normal an operation as possible with so many players and support people coming and going.

“In the course of last season and even the one previous when we were going in the bubble, this has just become part of the reality we have to deal with,” he said. “Today, we had a practice plan in place, then we were told about Auston and had to adjust quickly. We’ve wanted our guys to remain healthy and safe and been fortunate that everyone who has been positive has gone through it with relatively mild symptoms.”

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Up front, Matthews’ spot was taken Monday by John Tavares, between Michael Bunting and Mitch Marner, while Kerfoot shifted from second-line left wing to centring Ilya Mikheyev and William Nylander. Mikheyev’s promotion after a two-goal game Saturday saw further shuffling that brought Pierre Engvall to the left flank with centre David Kampf and Ondrej Kase and allowed Nick Ritchie a potential return on the fourth line with Jason Spezza and Wayne Simmonds after his first time as a healthy scratch versus the Sens.

“There have been guys in and out all year and other teams have dealt with it a lot more than us,” Kerfoot said of the constant changes. “The (reduced) five-day quarantine helps, but guys are still going to miss games.”

lhornby@postmedia.com