Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews didn’t practice or skate with the team today and is questionable to play this weekend. He’s been battling an upper-body injury for much of the week and didn’t play in the team’s most recent matchup against the Boston Bruins a few days ago.
Jonas Siegel of The Athletic provided a quote about Matthews’ availability earlier from head coach Craig Berube saying, “That’s to be determined still. It’s hard for me to answer that question knowing what I know right now with him today.” The Maple Leafs have back-to-back matchups against Original Six rivals this weekend in the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens.
Although Toronto is objectively better with Matthews in the lineup it appears the team is taking a more measured approach to his recovery. The American superstar has five goals and 11 points through 13 games to start the campaign and the Maple Leafs are looking to be safer than sorry with their leader.
Other Atlantic notes:
- The Tampa Bay Lightning are again without their first-line center Brayden Point this evening as they face off against the Philadelphia Flyers. Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider reported earlier that Point is still out with a lower-body injury although he did resume skating this morning. It will be the second straight missed game for Point after starting the season with eight goals and 13 points in 12 contests.
- Heading southeast to Sunrise, Florida, Colby Guy of the Associated Press confirmed there are no lineup changes for the Florida Panthers tonight meaning forward Jonah Gadjovich won’t return to the ice. Gadjovich hasn’t played since October 17th due to a back injury. The physical bottom-six presence should pick up where he left off before the injury as he’s collected a whopping 26 hits in only six games in the current campaign.
The Leafs actually win more with Matthews out of the line-up!
@Johnny Z — You were listening to the guys on OverDrive, too, eh? :) They thought it was kind of funny, and weird. I wonder where the GTA Psychology Club stands on that little nugget.
What is the number of games in your equation?
@doghockey — The guys on OverDrive discussed this the other day. I don’t remember the exact number, but it wasn’t that close to 50-50. Short-term analysis like this can be kind of funny, just not to the victim.
Just did a quick look at a few links and it seems that he has missed all of 57 games in his career and the Leafs have won at about at 65% clip in his absence. They have also won at about a 63-64% clip with him in the lineup. But anyone who thinks this is a big deal and would like to get rid of him, I would love to see him in a Wild uni.
Like I said: “The Leafs actually win more with Matthews out of the line-up!” LOL!
@doghockey — Are you sure you’d like to see that? Remember who the coach is there. And, the numbers are just statistical anomalies. They seem to be close ratios for a number of star players.