Matthews ‘feeling a lot better’ after taking a step back to reevaluate lingering injury
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Matthews confident injury is behind him, t
‘I think that’s a sign of a great team’: Matthews proud to see Leafs step up in his absence
The Maple Leafs practised at Ford Performance Centre on Saturday.
Auston Matthews is back on the ice. The Leafs centre skated on Saturday for the first time since Nov. 10.
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“I definitely feel night and day a lot better,” said Matthews, who has been sidelined with an upper-body injury since Nov. 3. “Everything’s moving in a positive direction.”
Matthews will miss an eighth straight game on Sunday when the Leafs host the Utah Hockey Club, but says a return in Toronto’s next game on Wednesday against the Florida Panthers is a possibility.
Auston Matthews on the ice
Matthews confirmed the undisclosed injury “flared up” during training camp. He played the first 13 games of the regular season, but didn’t look like himself while producing five goals and six assists. His shooting percentage, takeaways, and hits were all trending down from last year’s 69-goal campaign, which ended with a Selke Trophy nomination.
“It was getting worse and worse,” the 27-year-old from Arizona explained. “A mistake I made in the past is maybe coming back [too soon]. You want to get back and you start to feel good and then you kind of try to jump back into the game and maybe you’re not quite ready yet. So just wanted to be mindful and make sure that I’m feeling back as close to 100 per cent before we start getting back into game situations.”
Matthews, who is in his first season as the team’s captain, says he’s “pretty confident” the injury won’t bother him again moving forward.
On Saturday, Matthews skated for more than 30 minutes with Patrick O’Sullivan, who is part of the team’s player development staff. He is expected to skate again on Sunday, per coach Craig Berube.
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