Auston Matthews Injury Could Drag Out Longer Than Expected

While the injury isn’t said to be overly serious, — and not related to his previous wrist injury — it does sound like Auston Matthews sitting out Tuesday’s game for the Toronto Maple Leafs might not be a one-off. Insiders are reporting that his absence could drag into the weekend, potentially seeing Matthews miss the next two games for the team.

Both Chris Johnston and Pierre LeBrun of TSN are reporting this is an issue that has been hampering Matthews for some time. LeBrun said, “It’s something they’ve been monitoring really since camp.” He added, “My understanding is that they finally said, let’s just get off the ice here and make sure that you’re fine.”

The understanding was that if this were the playoffs, Matthews would work through it. But, because it’s still early in the season, the Leafs didn’t want to take any chances. “Why risk it,” LeBrun said.

LeBrun acknowledges that his injury likely impacted his production, but he finds it hard to separate his struggles from the overall offensive issues the team has faced this season. While the start hasn’t been ideal, LeBrun believes pulling him now was the right decision to prevent things from worsening.

Elliotte Friedman said that Matthews has always been very private about his injury status so it’s not clear and it may not be known in full detail how severe the issue is.

A Break Might Be Helpful For Matthews

To argue that the Leafs don’t want Matthews in the lineup would be a stretch. That said, if he takes a short break and misses a game or two isn’t the worst thing that could happen. LeBrun said that if anyone can come back and rip off back-to-back hat tricks, it would be Matthews.

Perhaps one step back means two steps forward and Matthews gets right back on pace to his regular totals.

There is a lot of shock that the Leafs have struggled as they have offensively and their 6-5-2 record is a result of their offense and power play not showing up. Ironically, the Leafs won 4-0 over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night.

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