Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Trending in right direction
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Matthews (lower body) hasn't been ruled out against the Jackets on Wednesday after head coach Craig Berube told reporters, "I'll probably know tomorrow if they're available Wednesday," per Mark Masters of TSN.
It's far from a confirmation that Matthews will face Columbus, but it's a step in the right direction. It seems Tuesday's practice session will be critical for the world-class center in determining his availability. Whenever Matthews does return, he will reclaim his first-line role and spot on the No. 1 power-play unit.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Doubtful for Saturday
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Per Mark Masters of TSN, Matthews (lower body) is doubtful to play Saturday in Montreal, according to head coach Craig Berube.
Berube said Friday that Matthews has been practicing, but his availability for Saturday's tilt is doubtful. Matthews has already missed the last four games, and the Maple Leafs will look to Wednesday's game in Columbus as a possibility to get Matthews back into the lineup. Matthews has nine goals and five helpers in 17 games this season.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Targeting Saturday return
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Matthews (lower body) is doubtful to suit up versus the Blue Jackets on Thursday after general manager Brad Treliving told reporters, "I would suspect Thursday's probably not a possibility ... I don't anticipate too, too long," Mark Masters of TSN reports Tuesday.
Based on Treveling's comments, Matthews looks poised to return in time to face the Canadiens on Saturday, though he hasn't been officially given the all-clear. In his 17 outings this year, the world-class center has racked up nine goals and five helpers, but has managed just two power-play points. Matthews will reclaim his spot on the No. 1 power-play unit and top line as soon as he is ready to play.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Placed on injured reserve
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Matthews (lower body) was designated for injured reserve Friday, retroactive to Nov. 11.
Matthews's placement on IR means he won't be in action for the Leafs' next two contests due to his lower-body injury. Prior to getting hurt, the world-class center was rolling offensively with four goals and two assists in his last six contests. Still, Matthews is behind a point-per-game pace, something he hasn't done since his rookie campaign back in 2016-17, when he recorded 69 points in 82 regular-season contests.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Out a couple of games
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Matthews (lower body) will miss a pair of games, but his injury is not considered serious, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports Thursday.
Matthews left Tuesday's tilt against Boston after a big hit, courtesy of the Bruins' Nikita Zadorov. Matthews will sit out Thursday against the Kings and Saturday in Chicago. Matthews has nine goals and 14 points in 17 games this season. John Tavares will move up the depth chart and center the top unit in Matthews' absence.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Injured Tuesday
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Matthews (lower body) won't return to Tuesday's game versus the Bruins.
Matthews left the game after a hit by Nikita Zadorov. The 28-year-old Matthews' absence is a big concern for a Maple Leafs team that has won just twice in its first five games in November. It's unclear if Matthews will be able to suit up Thursday versus the Kings.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Scores, assists Sunday
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Matthews scored an even-strength goal and added a power-play assist in Sunday's 5-4 loss to the Hurricanes.
This was just the third multi-point effort of the season for Matthews, who remains productive even if he's not filling out the box score as he did a few seasons ago. The 28-year-old star is up to 14 points this season and seems to be trending in the right direction with six points (four goals, two assists) in five contests this month. For the sake of comparison, Matthews put up eight points in 11 games in October.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Tallies in Wednesday's win
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Matthews scored a goal on two shots in Wednesday's 5-3 win over the Mammoth.
Matthews is heating up with three goals and an assist over three outings in November. The 28-year-old had been limited to one helper over the three contests to close out October. He's produced eight goals, 12 points, 57 shots on net, 27 blocked shots, 12 hits, six PIM and a plus-10 rating through 14 appearances as the centerpiece of Toronto's offense.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Two-point effort against Pens
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Matthews scored a goal and added an assist in Monday's 4-3 win over Pittsburgh.
The Leafs captain sparked a comeback from a 3-0 deficit early in the third period, as he took a blue line-to-blue line feed from Jake McCabe and then went five-hole on Tristan Jarry. Matthews has had a bit of a sluggish start to the season, but he's found the back of the net in back-to-back games and has seven goals and 11 points through 13 contests.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Rips sixth goal of season in win
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Matthews scored a goal in Saturday's 5-2 win over the Flyers.
Matthews took a feed from Morgan Rielly and ripped a shot almost instantly into the top of the net past Dan Vladar. Matthews is off to a relatively slow start this season with six goals and three assists in 12 games. However, his goal-scoring talent makes him a serious threat for a hot streak at any moment.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Buries power-play goal
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Matthews scored a power-play goal on five shots and added two hits in Friday's 5-3 loss to the Sabres.
It was Matthews' first power-play point of the season. He hasn't exactly been quiet so far, earning five goals and two assists over the first eight games of the season, and he's been over 20 minutes of ice time in each contest. That kind of workload, combined with a total of 34 shots (4.25 per game), is a recipe for extended success on offense. Matthews has added seven hits, 19 blocked shots and a plus-3 rating and will remain a high-end source of offense throughout 2025-26.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Remains productive in OT win
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Matthews scored the game-winning goal in Thursday's 2-1 overtime victory over the Rangers.
Matthews and William Nylander broke away on a 2-on-1 early in the overtime frame, and Matthews tapped the winner past Igor Shesterkin. Matthews is starting to pick up the pace with four goals, one assist and 22 shots in five games this season. He has also used his body well with three blocks in each of the Leafs' five games so far. Matthews' overtime goal tied Mats Sundin for the most overtime goals (14) in franchise history. He has four points (three goals, one assist) during a three-game point streak.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Gets two goals including winner
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Matthews scored twice Tuesday in a 7-4 win over Nashville.
Matthews pushed the winner past Justus Annunen at 10:42 of the third period. He took a pass on a give-and-go with Matthew Knies and scored from below the right hash marks past the goalie's outstretched pad. His second went into an empty net. Matthews has 64 game-winning goals, passing Dave Keon for second in Maple Leafs history. Mats Sundin is first with 79.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Eight shots, one assist in loss
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Matthews picked up an assist in Monday's 3-2 loss to Detroit.
Matthews has had a quiet start to the season -- he has a goal and assist in three games. But he wired eight shots at Cam Talbot on Monday night, and he now has 15 in those three contests. Matthews' shooting percentage is a low 6.7 percent, so it's only a matter of time before the goals come as his rate gets closer to his career mark of 15.8.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Fills empty cage
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Matthews scored an empty-net goal and blocked three shots in Wednesday's 5-2 win over the Canadiens.
Matthews' first goal of the season wasn't anything special, but fantasy managers won't mind the early contribution. His line with Matthew Knies and Matias Maccelli was a factor on two of the Maple Leafs' goals. Matthews may need some time to adjust to the post-Mitch Marner era, but he's still one of the elite scorers in the game. Bet on talent -- his 33-goal output in the 2024-25 regular season was a career low for a player who has six campaigns of at least 40 tallies.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Tallies in Friday's win
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Matthews scored a goal on four shots and added two PIM in Friday's 2-0 win over the Panthers in Game 6.
Matthews broke a 0-0 deadlock with his tally off a turnover at 6:20 of the third period. This was his first career goal in the second round or later of the playoffs, and it snapped a five-game stretch in which he was limited to three assists. Matthews is at three goals, eight helpers, 45 shots on net, 28 hits, 16 blocked shots and a plus-2 rating over 12 postseason contests.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Two helpers in Game 3
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Matthews delivered two assists in Friday's 5-4 overtime loss against the Panthers in Game 3 .
Matthews has gone three straight games without finding the back of the net and has scored just two goals in nine appearances this postseason. However, he's compensated for the lack of scoring with an eye for setting up his teammates. He's contributed three assists in the last two games, giving him eight helpers through nine playoff contests.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Gets goal in Game 6 win
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Matthews scored a goal in Thursday's 4-2, series-clinching win over the Senators.
Matthews opened the scoring on the power play at 18:50 of the first period on a soft wrist shot from above the left circle that beat a screened Linus Ullmark past his right pad. Matthews finishes the first round with two goals, five assists and 21 shots in six games, and he'll skate against the top of the Panthers' lineup when the teams meet in Round 2.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Two-point night in OT win in Game 3
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Matthews had a goal and an assist in a 3-2 overtime win over Ottawa in Game 3 on Thursday.
His goal was one of those SportsCenter moments. The Leafs rimmed the puck behind the net where Mitch Marner deftly touch-passed the puck right onto Matthews' stick. The puck was behind Linus Ullmark so fast that the netminder hadn't even pivoted his head in the direction of the puck -- he was actually still looking over his opposite shoulder as the shot was taken. It was nice to see Matthews get more offensive-zone time in this game. Head coach Craig Berube had used both Matthews and Marner in heavy rotation on starts in the defensive zone in Games 1 and 2. Matthews is one of the best two-way players in the world, so the defensive-zone starts make sense, even if we'd like to see a lot more offense from him.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Supplies pair of helpers
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Matthews notched two assists, including one on the power play, and added six shots on net, four hits and two blocked shots in Sunday's 6-2 win over the Senators in Game 1.
Matthews sprung Mitch Marner for a breakaway goal in the first period, and then did work closer to the net to set up Matthew Knies' power-play tally to close the scoring. The 27-year-old Matthews was hot in April with four goals and six helpers over eight contests to close the regular season at a total of 78 points in 67 outings. The superstar center is poised to play on the top line and first power-play unit throughout Toronto's playoff run.
