Auston Matthews to miss 2nd straight game due to injury.

The bad news just keeps on coming for Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews.

On Monday morning, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube confirmed that Matthews would miss his second consecutive game after aggravating the injury that has troubled him all season long thus far last week. Matthews missed Saturday's game against the New York Islanders, a 6-3 loss for the Maple Leafs, and will also now miss today's afternoon game against the Winnipeg Jets.

Berube had already informed the media that Matthews was to be considered questionable for today's game, but nonetheless this news will be a cause for concern in Toronto given Matthews' status as a superstar player in the National Hockey League and given the fact that this injury won't seem to go away.

Even more concerning perhaps is the fact that Berube has indicated Matthews will be out of the lineup until at least Friday's game against the Detroit Red Wings, wording that leaves open the possibility that Matthews could miss even more time as a result of this lingering injury.

Although Matthews is still having a strong season with 11 goals and 12 assists for a total of 23 points in just 24 games, there's no question that his play has been hampered by this injury throughout the season. This will continue to be a concern down the stretch and you have to wonder if the Maple Leafs might not consider shutting him down entirely until this injury situation is completely resolved for good.

The good news here for the Leafs is that this has occurred just prior to the holiday break, which does mean that Matthews will get some additional time to rest before the Leafs have to play again later this week in Detroit.