USA's Matthews sits against Sweden with upper-body soreness
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American forward Auston Matthews sat out Monday’s 4 Nations Face-Off game against Sweden while dealing with upper-body soreness.
TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston notes that the issue is not considered serious for Team USA’s captain.
Matthews, 27, was joined on the sidelines by Matthew Tkachuk (lower-body injury) and Charlie McAvoy (upper-body injury), leaving Team USA to play a man short.
Brady Tkachuk then left the meaningless 2-1 loss to Sweden in the first period with a lower-body injury.
“We start the game with 11 forwards, and then you lose another guy and a key player on our team,” centre Jack Eichel said. “It’s never easy. You don’t want to see anyone go out. I give the guys credit. We put a lot on (the) 10 forwards, and it’s tough. (Head coach Mike Sullivan is) trying to find combinations. We had chances, but we just weren’t able to bury.”
In the first two games of the best-on-best tournament, Matthews has recorded one assist with three shots on goal.
“I would anticipate we would (get players back Thursday),” Sullivan said after Monday's loss. “We’ll have to wait and see how things play out here over the next day or so, but obviously there will be contingency planning in the event that we need people.”