Confusing update on Auston Matthews leads to captain missing second straight game

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews was not on the ice during the team’s optional skate prior to their game against the Detroit Red Wings on Friday.

After practice, head coach Craig Berube explained how Matthews would miss the contest against Detroit, though he did not want to say about Saturday’s matchup against the Montreal Canadiens. Instead, he stated that things were going in “right direction”.

Whatever that means…

Matthews missed Tuesday’s 4-0 win over the Boston Bruins and was deemed questionable for the team’s games over the weekend. He therefore remains questionable for the contest against Montreal as fans will need to await tomorrow’s update.

And let’s hope it is clearer than this one.

The captain, who has dealt with shoulder and wrist ailments in the past, has collected five goals and 11 points in 13 games this season. He last played on Sunday when he picked up an assist and played more than 22 minutes in a 2-1 overtime road loss to the Minnesota Wild. Berube did however mentioned earlier this week that his best player isn’t currently dealing with a wrist issue.

Leafs forward Max Domi centred the top line between Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies on Tuesday. Anthony Stolarz is expected to get the start against the Red Wings. These were the lines ahead of tonight’s game at practice on Thursday:

Knies - Domi - Marner
Pacioretty - Tavares - Nylander
McMann - Holmberg - Robertson
Lorentz - Kampf - Reaves

Rielly - Ekman-Larsson
McCabe - Tanev
Benoit - Timmins
Benning - Myers

Stolarz
Woll