Bad News for Team USA: Auston Matthews Battling with Injury, per Elliotte Friedman
Team USA captain Auston Matthews is going to be out for the team's game against Sweden as a round of illness has sidelined the star forward.
With Team USA looking to give themselves another win in the 4 Nations Faceoff, they take on Team Sweden as they set their sights on the finals against Team Canada.
But they will need to tackle the game without captain Auston Matthews -- who according to NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman is going to miss the game due to illness.
While it's unknown what exactly is going on, with Matthews battling something and the amount of illness that has gone around recently, it wouldn't be surprising if a virus got ahold of him.
It seems Team Sweden has also felt the illness bug as Linus Ullmark was ill and replaced by Samuel Ersson, meanwhile Mika Zibanejad and Rickard Rakell are both missing as well.
It's an unfortunate turn of events for both teams as it seems the tournament has been marred with a bit of bad luck recently.
So who else has dealt with the injury bug during the tournament?
4 Nations Faceoff Injuries Cause Chaos For Teams
It started even before the tournament with Alex Pietrangelo pulling out due to injury, as well as others like Miro Heiskanen and Jani Hakanpaa missing as well -- it feels a bit cursed.
Next came Shea Theodore for Team Canada then Cale Makar as well, then Matthew Tkachuk for Team USA followed by now Matthews and the Swedes. It's been a rough go to say the least and it's led to questions about how the next best-on-best tournament will go.
It's why there's a need for some type of reserve system when it comes to these types of events, where injuries can and do happen. If Team USA had a couple of bodies hanging around TD Garden, they could possibly have used them instead of Matthews.
With the final game coming on Thursday and it being one of the most anticipated games in recent memory, the Americans are hoping that Matthews will play -- and knowing him he will.
But if whatever is ailing him passes around the locker room and leads to some more absences -- let's hope Canada takes full advantage.
![Feb 13, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; [Imagn Images direct customers only] Team USA forward Auston Matthews (34) plays the puck against Team Finland in the second period during a 4 Nations Face-Off ice hockey game at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images](https://i.marqueur.com/habsetlnh/medium/529741.webp "Feb 13, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; [Imagn Images direct customers only] Team USA forward Auston Matthews (34) plays the puck against Team Finland in the second period during a 4 Nations Face-Off ice hockey game at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images")
![Feb 13, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; [Imagn Images direct customers only] Team USA forward Matthew Tkachuk (19) celebrates with Team USA forward Auston Matthews (34) his goal against Team Finland in the third period during a 4 Nations Face-Off ice hockey game at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images](https://i.marqueur.com/habsetlnh/medium/529526.webp "Feb 13, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; [Imagn Images direct customers only] Team USA forward Matthew Tkachuk (19) celebrates with Team USA forward Auston Matthews (34) his goal against Team Finland in the third period during a 4 Nations Face-Off ice hockey game at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images")
