Auston Matthews will return to the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup, but the star forward declined to discuss specifics about what kept him out of the lineup for the last two games.
BOSTON — Auston Matthews will return to the lineup after missing the last two games with an undisclosed injury. While he declined to give specifics regarding the issue that forced him out of action, he did say it’s something he’s going to have to manage going forward.
“It’s just something I’ve got to stay on top of with the medical team and the staff and making sure I get the care and treatment that I obviously need to perform every night,” he said following Saturday’s morning skate ahead of his team’s game against he Boston Bruins.
Matthews missed his first two games of the season on Wednesday at home against the Nashville Predators and on Thursday on the road against the Detroit Red Wings. Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe indicated earlier in the week that Matthews’ injury was something “that’s been lingering for quite a while.”
That could also explain why Matthews, the reigning Hart Trophy winner for NHL MVP, has had a bit of a down year as far as production goes.
“Yeah it’s fine, obviously you’d like to be better and push myself to do more and I have high expectations for myself," Matthews said about his offense. “I think the way we’ve been playing as a team, defensively this year, I think that just speaks to our growth as a team and our maturity and the way we’ve been able to win games.”
Toronto is in a three-way tie for second in the NHL for average goals-against per game (2.63) heading into Saturday’s contest against the Bruins who lead the league in that category (2.22). Last season, the Leafs were 24th out of 32 NHL clubs in goals-against per game at 3.59).
That has come at a cost of less production offensively, but the Leafs are still getting results and have a 26-10-7 record through 43 regular-season games.
“That’s the kind of game that we’re going to need to play if we want to obviously play a long time in a couple of months here,” Matthews said. “That’s really the main focus right now. Making sure those habits and details are dialed in every single night.”
Matthews has seen other areas of his game take a step up. With an emphasis on being more physical, Matthews has 53 hits in 41 games, on pace to shatter his previous high in a season of 67 set during the 2021-22 campaign.
Matthews will return to his regular spot on the top line alongside Michael Bunting and William Nylander.
The Leafs gutted out a 2-1 victory against the Bruins on Nov. 5 at Scotiabank Arena, handing Boston just their second loss of the season at the time (10-2-0).
The Bruins have been the class of the NHL before and after that time with a 32-5-4 record and are coming off their first ever regulation-time loss at home this season (3-0 to the Seattle Kraken on Jan. 12).
“It’s a team that’s been rolling and everyone is trying to kind of catch,” Matthews said of the Bruins. ‘I don’t think there’s going to be a whole lot of space out there, it’s going to be a bit of chess match and we just have to make sure that we are ready to play.”
The 25-year-old Matthews has 20 goals and 27 assists in 41 games with the Maple Leafs this season.