Elliotte Friedman Shares Key Update On Auston Matthews Ahead Of Capitals Matchup
Although Auston Matthews is going to miss more time, there is a huge positive coming out of the injury as the captain was seen skating on Saturday morning.
With one month already on the shelf due to an injury, there looks to be a lot more time added on to Auston Matthews' lengthy absence as the team figures out how best to navigate things to keep not only their captain healthy, but happy.
So it's a huge positive to see that he's seemingly on the mend, and a great sign he's trying his best to get back to work. According to Elliotte Friedman, the Leafs captain was on the ice for about a half hour in an extras jersey, trying to get comfortable being back even for a small time.
Even though he was only on the ice for a limited amount of time, Matthews looked like he was skating strong and didn't show any inklings of pain during his morning skate.
Toronto Will Be Just Fine Without Matthews If He Needs More Time
The first go-round the Maple Leafs did very well for themselves, winning seven of nine games and showcasing their ability to fight until the last buzzer and often found themselves winning comeback after comeback.
Though they stumbled a bit with his most recent injury, a lot of the blame needs to be put on the grueling schedule the team had to endure in December and wasn't afforded the luxury of the first injury where they had several days to rest in between.
Something has definitely been holding Matthews back though. 11 goals and 23 points are very unbecoming of him and is on pace to have one of, if not the lowest producing offensive season ever.
The rest of the team though will use this as an opportunity to take the reigns and lead the Maple Leafs through the storm. Mitch Marner seemingly had no issues, scoring a hat-trick on Friday and the team looked unstoppable at times against Detroit.
If Nick Robertson can continue his hot streak, we see Bobby McMann and Matthew Knies start putting more goals on the board, and even some external help from their defensemen like Morgan Rielly and Oliver Ekman-Larsson; who knows just how deadly Toronto truly is even without Matthews.
They'll be in tough against the Washington Capitals on Saturday as the team may see the return of Alex Ovechkin after he severely injured his leg a few weeks ago. Washington currently sits 2nd in the Metropolitan with a 23-9-2 record.
Toronto heads into their game with a 22-12-2 record; splitting an identical record and sharing top spot with the Florida Panthers in the Atlantic Division.
