Matthews out for Maple Leafs against Islanders with injury

TORONTO -- Auston Matthews will not play when the Toronto Maple Leafs host the New York Islanders on Saturday at Scotiabank Arena (7 p.m. ET; CBC, SN1, SNO, SNP, MSGSN2) because of an upper-body injury.

The Maple Leafs center and captain did not participate in a full morning skate prior to a 6-3 win against the Buffalo Sabres on Friday but scored and played 19:18. He took two hard hits in the game, one from Sabres forward Tage Thompson in the first period and a cross check from defenseman Dennis Gilbert in the third period, though he finished the game.

“He’s not going to go tonight,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “He took a cross-check there late in the third period on the power play and it just aggravated it.”

Toronto will host the Winnipeg Jets on Monday, its final game before the holiday break. Berube did not rule Matthews out for Monday.

“We’ll make that decision tomorrow," Berube said. "I’m not going to go there yet. We’re going to see how things go here and then we will play it by ear.”

Berube did not confirm how he would realign his lineup but did say forwards Connor Dewar and Ryan Reaves, who were healthy scratches Friday, would play against the Islanders, while forward Pontus Holmberg would be a healthy scratch.

Matthews missed nine games last month because of an upper-body injury and returned Nov. 30, a 5-3 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning. During his recovery, he took a five-day trip to Germany to visit a doctor who both he and other Maple Leafs players have seen in the past, for consultation. The injury was one he had been managing since missing time during the preseason.

As for whether the injury he sustained against the Sabres is related to the previous injury or is an isolated issue, Berube said, “probably a little of both.”

Neither Matthews nor Berube have offered any further specifics as to the nature of the previous injury, though the coach did indicate earlier it is not related to a wrist injury Matthews previously had surgery on during the 2021 offseason.

Matthews has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in 11 games since returning from the injury, helping Toronto to an 8-3-0 record during that span. He is fourth on the Maple Leafs with 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists) in 24 games this season.

He led the League with a career-high 69 goals last season and has scored at least 40 goals in each of the previous five seasons. Since entering the NHL in the 2016-17 season, Matthews leads the NHL with 379 goals, 30 more than Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers, who is second.

Toronto went 7-2-0 without Matthews last month. It is 42-21-2 all-time without him.

“If you look back on the games he was out, we checked extremely well because we need to,” Berube said. “Was our scoring down a little bit? Yes, but we were stilling winning close hockey games because everybody was focused on the checking part and doing their job. Guys stepped up with him being out. They stepped up big for us, and I’d expect the same.”

Maple Leafs defenseman Chris Tanev said he is confident they will continue to play well in the absence of Matthews, however long it may last. Toronto (21-10-2) is tied for first in the Atlantic Division with the Florida Panthers (21-11-2), who have played one more game.

“It’s part of the game,” Tanev said. “You go through periods where there are injuries, and you go through periods where there aren’t. Sometimes that happens more than you want it, some years it happens more than other years, so it’s part of playing 82 games in a season. It’s a grind and it’s not easy.”