The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without captain Auston Matthews for at least the next two games as the star center continues to nurse an upper-body injury, NHL.com reported Friday.
Matthews, 27, has missed Toronto’s last two games and will sit out Friday’s contest at Detroit and Saturday’s home showdown against Washington.
Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube told reporters Friday that Matthews “is doing better” but did not give any further details about his injury. Berube said the team will have another update on Saturday.
Matthews last played in Toronto’s 6-3 win at Buffalo last Friday, scoring a goal in 19:18 of ice time. He finished the game despite taking a pair of big hits, including a cross check by Sabres defenseman Dennis Gilbert.
Injuries have sidelined Matthews for 11 of the Maple Leafs’ 35 games so far this season. He missed nine contests in November due to another upper-body issue. Berbue indicated Matthews’ current injury is slightly related to the previous one.
Matthews has tallied 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists) this season, good for fourth on the team. He led the NHL with a career-high 69 goals last season and is hunting his sixth straight 40-goal campaign.
The ninth-year veteran has scored the most goals in the league (379) since being drafted first overall by Toronto in 2016.
The Maple Leafs won seven of their nine games without Matthews earlier this season and are 42-22-2 all-time in his absence.
–Field Level Media
