Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews day to day with upper body injury, won't face Boston Bruins
Toronto captain is day to day with an upper body injury
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The Maple Leafs didn’t have their captain for their game against their divisional rivals on Tuesday night.
The Leafs announced on Tuesday morning that Auston Matthews is day to day with an upper-body issue and wasn’t available when Toronto clashed with the Boston Bruins at Scotiabank Arena.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews day to day with upper body injury, won't face Boston Bruins Back to video
There wasn’t an obvious problem for Matthews in the Leafs’ most recent game, a 2-1 overtime loss in Minnesota on Sunday.
“He has been fighting through it a little bit,” Leafs coach Craig Berube said after the morning skate.
So it’s something for Matthews that has been lingering?
“A little bit,” Berube said.
Berube was asked whether Matthews’ injury is related to his wrist issues in the past.
“No, nothing to do with that,” Berube said.
Matthews missed some time during training camp because of an upper-body issue.
Matthews set up William Nylander for a power-play goal and played 22 minutes 12 seconds — his third-highest ice time in the Leafs’ first 13 games of the 2024-25 season — recording three shots on goal and seven attempts.
Scoring-wise, Matthews is off to the slowest start of his National Hockey League career with five goals. His previous low through 13 games is six goals, which happened in three of his first eight seasons.
It’s possible that the injury has had an impact on his ability to put the puck in the net. Matthews has been getting his usual number of scoring chances and before games on Tuesday, was tied with the Boston Bruins’ David Pastrnak for the NHL lead in shots on goal with 56.
The Leafs are scheduled to practise on Wednesday and Thursday before playing host to the Detroit Red Wings on Friday and the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.
It wasn’t yet clear when Matthews will be able to get back on the ice with his Leafs teammates.
Last season, Matthews missed just one game on the way to scoring a franchise-high 69 goals.
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