Matthews missed one game due to a flu bug earlier this season, but head coach Sheldon Keefe says this illness is different.
Matthews missed one game due to a flu bug earlier this season, but head coach Sheldon Keefe says this illness is different.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will wait until closer to gametime before a decision is made on whether or not Auston Matthews will be in the lineup when the club hosts the Washington Capitals.
The NHL leader in goals was absent during the team's full morning skate
"It's just an illness for him," Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said Thursday. "It's going to be (decided) on how he feels throughout the day."
Matthews missed one game this season due to a flu bug on Dec. 16 when the Maple Leafs hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins. A flu bug has been permeating throughout the club's room all season long and virtually everybody on the roster has had to miss at least one game due to a bug.
Keefe stressed that this isn't a flu bug like the one Matthews had earlier in the year.
"That's different, but certainly it seems like something's come through our team here. As you say, in two or three guys at a time, intervals throughout the season versus coming in and right through your room, you almost prefer it that way, right? It's just that it's just done with," Keefe said. "We're hoping we're past that. Auston's situation today is not like that. He's already been through that earlier this season, but this is a little different. And hopeful that it's more manageable that he could be available tonight, but see how the extra rest today benefits him there."
Matthews was one of several players who weren't available on Wednesday when the club elected to change plans from a full practice to just an optional and Keefe referenced that although everyone else was on the ice, there could be some more game-time decisions to be made ahead of their game against Washington/
Matthews scored his NHL-leading 59th goal of the season in a 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday. He also has 34 assists and 93 points in 70 games this season.
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