Another bad sign for Auston Matthews ahead of Game 5.

The Toronto Maple Leafs may have a major problem on their hands.

Earlier this morning I touched on the concerning absence of Auston Matthews during the team's morning skate, and now there is one additional detail that would appear to indicate the Maple Leafs are, at the very least, preparing for the possibility that Matthews will not play in Game 5.

One of the early signs that Matthews wouldn't be ready to go tomorrow was the Maple Leafs bumping up forward Max Domi into Matthews' spot during the morning skate. Here is how the forward lines looked on Monday morning:

Bertuzzi - Domi - Marner
Knies - Tavares - Nylander
Robertson - Holmberg - Jarnkrok
Dewar - Kampf - Reaves

A keen observation from TSN's Mark Masters however noticed something was a little different. On Friday, when Matthews was also absent from practice, the Maple Leafs had put Connor Dewar in Matthews' spot in order to keep the chemistry on the other 3 lines the same. Dewar was not used in that role on Monday, and that has led Masters to believe that the Maple Leafs are preparing for a Game 5 scenario in which Matthews won't be ready to play.

That would be nothing short of catastrophic for the Maple Leafs at the best of the times during the Stanley Cup playoffs, but it's even worse when you consider the Maple Leafs will be facing elimination in Game 5, down 3-1 in the series to a tough Boston Bruins team.