Matthews aggravates upper-body injury, questionable Monday vs. Jets
Published
Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews was not available Saturday night against the New York Islanders after aggravating the upper-body injury that caused him to miss games last month.
He is considered questionable for Monday's game against the Winnipeg Jets.
Matthews played 19:18 and scored his 11th goal of the season in Friday night's 6-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres, but he was held out of the gameday skate earlier in the day.
"Well it's tough. I mean, he's fighting through it and he's doing, you know, he's doing a pretty good job out there on the ice," head coach Craig Berube told reporters Friday. "Like he's producing and playing hard and working and, you know, we just got to manage it... You know, it'll get better. We just got to manage it though. And that's why he's off the ice today."
The 27-year-old missed nine games between Nov. 3 and Nov. 30 and sought treatment for the injury in Germany.
"[The injury] flared up in pre-season, felt better and started getting worse. I just felt it was time to take a step back, re-evaluate," Matthews told reporters on Nov. 23. "It hasn't necessarily gotten worse, but wasn't getting better. I wanted to be pro-active."
He has 11 goals and 23 points in 24 games so far this season for Toronto after scoring a league-best 69 goals last season.
Leafs recall Hildeby, send down Murray
The Leafs recalled goaltender Dennis Hildeby from the AHL's Toronto Marlies, it was announced Saturday.
Meanwhile, goaltender Matt Murray has been assigned to the Marlies.
Murray made his season debut at the NHL level Friday, stopping 24 of 27 shots in Toronto's win over Buffalo.
Hildeby has appeared in three games for the big club this season, posting a .875 save percentage and 3.68 goals-against average.