Auston Matthews Provides Injury Update After Rejoining the Team
Since his return from injury, Auston Matthews has been fantastic and gave some insight into how he feels since stepping back on the ice.
It wasn't the start that either Auston Matthews or the Maple Leafs wanted, as the newly appointed captain has had to spend two separate stints on the IR due to an undisclosed and mysterious injury that led to tons of speculation.
While the team weathered the storm, Matthews needed to come back and since he has, it's been night and day. He looks a lot faster, has more edge to his game, and is adding some much needed scoring to a team desperate for offense.
So ahead of Saturday night's game against Montreal, it wasn't surprising to hear that Matthews was more than elated to be back helping, and feels 100% too.
Auston Matthews' Confidence A Huge Boost To Maple Leafs
It's a great sign that Matthews feels healthy and able to contribute to the level the Leafs need him to be at, and it's a big turnaround from a couple of weeks ago where he was unsure about his true readiness.
With 11 points in his last seven games (6G, 5A) he's finally turning things around and just in the nick of time as well. If he can keep this momentum up and is able to translate it into a strong showing at the 4 Nations Face-Off, it will set Toronto up in a big way come the end of season stretch.
Since John Tavares is going to be out for an undetermined amount of time, it will be up to Matthews to be even more productive and try to kickstart Toronto's power play once again and the team can't afford to have him start struggling.
It's great for the captain then that Montreal is the next opponent for the Leafs, as he has 45 career points in 35 games versus the Habs (27G, 18A) and will look to halt their momentum; the Canadiens are 11-2-1 over their last 14 games and sit only seven points out of second in the Atlantic Division.
Toronto needs a strong game from not only their captain but everyone involved, and now is the perfect time to gain some real separation from Florida in their division.
But it will be up to Matthews to lead the charge, and now that he's healthy it looks like the Leafs will have a strong push towards Lord Stanley's Cup.
| POLL | ||
3 HOURS AGO | 27 ANSWERS Auston Matthews Provides Injury Update After Rejoining the Team Do you think Auston Matthews is fully healthy or still dealing with some injury issues? | ||
