Toronto Maple Leafs centre Auston Matthews is expected to miss at least four weeks due to the left shoulder injury he sustained in Saturday's win over the Winnipeg Jets.

The Leafs announced Monday that Matthews will be placed on injured reserve and the centre added he will not need surgery.

The 21-year-old said the injury is the same as his shoulder injury last season - which was a separated right shoulder - though this time to his left side.

"It's frustrating," Matthews said of the injury. "There’s not much you can do. It sucks. It’s part of the game. I’m going to work as hard as I can to get back as soon as possible and feeling back to myself."

Matthews left the game on Saturday after absorbing a hit from Jets defenceman Jacob Trouba early in the second period. Matthews said Monday he had no problem with the hit by Trouba, noting it "caught me me on a weird angle."

Embedded Image
Matthews 17-18 Injuries
Date                Injury              Games Missed
Feb  2018        Shoulder          10
Dec  2017        UBI                 6
Nov  2017       UBI                 4
 
Leafs With/Without Matthews in 17-18
With                            Without
38-19-5            Rec      11-7-2
3.45                 GF/G   3.15
2.9                   GA/G  2.6
38/172             PP        18/52
22.1%              PP%    34.6%

He cut to the front of the net with the puck and, as he attempted to shoot on goalie Connor Hellebuyck, Trouba went shoulder-to-shoulder with Matthews. He went to the bench on his own in apparent discomfort before eventually heading to the locker-room. 

Nazem Kadri took his spot on the top line alongside Patrick Marleau and Kasperi Kapanen.

Leafs head coach Mike Babcock shuffled his forward lines Sunday with Matthews absent, moving Nazem Kadri and Mitch Marner to the top line with Marleau. Kapanen skated in Marner's spot on John Tavares' right wing with Zach Hyman at left wing. Andreas Johnsson, who had been a healthy scratch, skated on the third line with Par Lindholm at centre and Connor Brown at right wing. The fourth line of Tyler Ennis, Frederik Gauthier and Josh Leivo remained the same.

Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock announced Monday the Maple Leafs will move forward for now with 22 players on their roster, stating "We have enough right here."

Matthews, who earlier this month became just the third player in NHL history to record seven straight multi-point games to start a season, had been held off the scoresheet in three consecutive outings heading into the Winnipeg game.

Heading into Monday's action, he still sat tied for second in the league with 10 goals and was also tied for sixth with 16 points following his red-hot start to the season.

Matthews missed 20 games during three separate injury hiatuses last season, including a 10-game stretch towards the end of the schedule with a separated right shoulder.

He still managed to finish second on the team in goals (34) and points (63) in 2017-18.

The Maple Leafs host the Calgary Flames on Monday night and have 14 games on the schedule for the month of November.