Bruins Beware! Auston Matthews Return to Maple Leafs Lineup, Bringing Scoring Power and Intensity
Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews will officially return to the lineup Saturday night for the first time since December 20 against the Buffalo Sabres.
Matthews hasn’t been playing at the level he’s capable of when healthy, but with 23 points in 24 games and his strong defensive instincts, he’s still a player whose presence will be readily welcomed back to the lineup. The 27-year-old signed a four-year contract worth $13.25 million annually last offseason, and proceeded to have the best season of his career to date, scoring a record-setting 69 goals and tallying 107 points in 82 games.
“It’s exciting,” Matthews said. “Obviously it’s never fun watching so I’m excited to get back in.”
Matthews has been battling an ailing upper-body injury that’s plagued him for much of the young season, having missed nearly the entire month of November because of it. The injury has been a headline for much of the season due to the uncertainty around it and the amount of rehabbing it’s seemingly taken to get him back up to speed. He told reporters earlier this week that he was unsure if his injury was something that he was going to be able to fully recover from this season.
“I don’t know. I hope so,” Matthews said Wednesday. “That’s obviously the goal. It’s tricky with these things sometimes. It’s a physical sport, it’s a contact sport, so things happen out there sometimes that are out of your control. So I’m just trying to manage it as best as I can, and we can, and you just go from there.”
Matthews returned from his initial injury on November 30 and scored six goals en route to 12 points in 11 games upon his initial return, but was sidelined again after their game against the Buffalo Sabres on December 20. It’s unknown exactly what caused him to miss more time with the injury, but it seems as though the injury is something that will need to be managed throughout the season as it flares up and calms down.
The Maple Leafs host the Boston Bruins Saturday night and will travel to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers on Sunday night.
