The Toronto Maple Leafs will once again be without their captain Auston Matthews when the Edmonton Oilers roll into Toronto on Saturday, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported.
Auston Matthews won’t be available for tomorrow’s game vs the Oilers. Given the Leafs schedule the extra time off aligns with Toronto’s focus to get their captain 100% healthy.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) November 15, 2024
Matthews, 27, has appeared in 13 games for the Leafs this season scoring five goals and 11 points, but has missed Toronto’s last five games due to an upper-body injury. It isn’t clear how the injury was suffered, but Matthews was absent from the team’s practice on Friday, TheLeafsNation’s Arun Srinivasan highlighted.
The Leafs have been quiet about Matthews’ injury, and on Friday, head coach Craig Berube didn’t offer much in terms of what’s going on.
“Normal. No setbacks,” Berube said. “We got two games in a long stretch here of time so we’re just letting him recover”
That news, nonetheless, is optimistic for the Leafs. After their game Saturday, they only play once in the next seven days — a Wednesday night battle hosting the Vegas Golden Knights — giving Matthews more time to recover.
In his absence the Leafs have held their own, going 4-1, beating the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and the Washington Capitals, while falling to the Ottawa Senators, outscoring their opponents 15-8. The Leafs have tinkered with their lines, most recently having John Tavares centring Mitch Marner and Bobby McMann on the top line, while Max Domi has been flanked by Matthew Knies and William Nylander.
Marner, defenceman Morgan Rielly, Nylander, and Tavares have all picked up the offensive slack in the last five games, scoring eight, seven, seven, and five goals respectively with Matthews out of the lineup. Toronto’s power play has caught fire, going 8-for-19 with the man advantage, operating at a league-high 41.2 percent over that time.
The Leafs have yet to confirm who will get the start for them, but Daily Faceoff currently projects Joseph Woll to get the nod.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist, making up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
