BOSTON — Austin Matthews is back in the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup but the center is dealing with a “nagging” injury.
Matthews scored a goal and had 20:08 in ice time when the Maple Leafs lost 4-3 to the Boston Bruins on Saturday. He missed the previous two games with an undisclosed injury.
“It’s been on and off for a little while,” he said Saturday after Toronto’s morning skate. “It’s been manageable. … I don’t feel like it’s affected me to the point where I couldn’t play up until just a couple days ago where it just kind of blew up on me and that’s it.”
Those games — a 2-1 win against the Nashville Predators on Wednesday and a 4-1 loss at the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday — were the first two he’s missed this season.
“I don’t think I really need to get into specifics,” Matthews said. “I think it’s just something that’s kind of been nagging me for a little bit. It’s definitely been fine to play through. I think it just kind of ramped up a little bit and so just wanted to get it to calm down. Feeling much better , so looking forward to playing and getting in tonight.”
Matthews, who skated Friday when the rest of the team was off, said that he will have to remain on top of the injury for the rest of the season, working with the medical staff.
As for how the injury has affected his game, Matthews said, “I think just little things, little details out there. But for myself, I just don’t really focus too much on that. I just try to get out there and play.” the same way no matter what throughout the season. Everybody’s going to be playing with bumps and bruises and different things, so I just try to go out there and compete and do my part.”
Matthews has 48 points (21 goals, 27 assists) in 42 games this season after scoring an NHL-leading 60 goals last season and winning the Hart Trophy voted as the most valuable player in the League. He is on pace for 19 more goals this season, which would put him at 40. That would be his lowest total since he scored 37 in 68 games in 2018-19.
“Defensively, I think he’s been among the best in the league in a lot of categories,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “Obviously plays a lot for us and our team’s been really good defensively. Our best guys have really led the way in that department and Auston certainly is one of them.
“He’s still producing at a good clip here.”
Toronto (26-11-7) is second in the Atlantic Division, 11 points behind Boston (33-5-4).
Although he acknowledged that the Maple Leafs haven’t been quite as dominant lately, with five losses in their past nine games (4-4-1), Matthews said that the balanced game is what’s needed if they aim to stick around for a while. in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. And thus, he can live with his diminished statistics if the team is winning.
“Obviously, you’d always like to be better and push myself to do more,” Matthews said. “I have high expectations for myself. But at the same time, I think the way we’ve been playing as a team this year, defensively especially, I think that’s just spoken to our growth as a team and our maturity and the way we “ve been able to win games.”
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