Yahoo Sports How The Maple Leafs Will Handle Auston Matthews’ Ice-Time In Return From Upper-Body Injury Against Bruins
Auston Matthews is back in the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup.
The 27-year-old confirmed the news himself following Toronto's morning skate on Saturday ahead of their game against the Boston Bruins. It's his first game since Dec. 20, where he aggravated an upper-body injury against the Buffalo Sabres.
"It's exciting. Obviously, never fun watching, so I feel excited about being back in."
Auston Matthews says he will play tonight against the Bruins.
He expects to play tomorrow against the Flyers as well.— Nick Barden (@nickbarden) January 4, 2025
Matthews skated on the top line on Saturday morning, alongside two of the players he's most familiar with: Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies. The trio has played over 193 minutes together at five-on-five this season, putting up a 58.68 xGF% in that span, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube revealed that there was plenty of discussion about where to slot Matthews in once he was ready to return to the lineup.
"They've got good success together," the head coach said of why he decided to put Matthews with Marner and Knies.
"I think more than anything, I just liked the look of that line together. And they've played extremely well this year for us, and Willy (William Nylander) and (John) Tavares and (Max) Pacioretty has played well. The (Max) Domi line's playing well together."
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Matthews was initially dealing with an injury during Toronto's training camp but was able to begin the regular season with the team. However, in early November, the forward exited the lineup with an upper-body injury.
He missed nine games — nearly the entire month of November — with the injury before returning to game-action on Nov. 30 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He played 11 games before receiving a cross-check from Sabres defenseman Dennis Gilbert, which aggravated Matthews' upper-body injury.
Matthews hasn't played since, missing Toronto's last six games. He's been skating throughout the last week, preparing himself for a return to the lineup, which we now know will be Saturday.
Signs of Matthews' return appeared evident when he joined the club for their one-game visit to Long Island. Typically, players who aren't nearing a return wouldn't join the team for a road game.
He took part in the full optional morning skate and stayed late to do extra conditioning work.
"I mean, the last couple of skates, I've felt good," Matthews said. "I've just been having positive progress throughout those and feeling confident day-by-day."
The Maple Leafs will be cautious of how they use the forward in game situations in the future with the injury hopefully in the rear-view mirror. Even Berube mentioned the challenge of using Matthews after coming off an aggravated injury.
"It's tough because he's the type of guy you want on the ice as much as you can, Berube said. "But at the same time, my job is to manage that and get communication from him, how he's feeling, and what's going on."
Even Matthews says injury management will be a focus after returning to Toronto's lineup.
"I think you're always managing stuff throughout the year and just trying to stay on top of it and try to feel as good as you can when you get in the lineup."
Toronto's captain confirmed he intends to also play against the Philadelphia Flyers, who are set to take on the Maple Leafs inside Scotiabank Arena on Sunday. Getting Matthews back is a massive addition, and it'll be the perfect return: Saturday Night against the Bruins.
"He's our captain and he's a great player, we all know that. I think with having him in the lineup, it gives us more options," Berube said. "He just drives the pace of play. He's an extremely hard worker, plays 200 feet. The pace goes up for everybody."
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