He’s back.
The Maple Leafs will have captain Auston Matthews in the lineup on Saturday night against the Boston Bruins.
“Never fun watching, so I feel excited about being back in,” Matthews said after the morning skate at Scotiabank Arena. “The last couple of skates I’ve had, I’ve felt good. (There has been) positive progress throughout those and I’m feeling confident day by day.”
Matthews hasn’t played since Dec. 20, as he has missed the past six games with a lingering upper-body injury. The Leafs were 3-3-0 in his most recent absence, though the three wins have come in their past four games.
Matthews was between Matthew Knies and Mitch Marner at the skate, and took part in drills involving the No. 1 power-play unit.
“He just drives the pace of play,” Leafs coach Craig Berube said of getting Matthews back. “Extremely hard worker, plays 200 feet, the pace goes up for everybody.”
Berube said there was some discussion among the coaching staff as to where Matthews would slot in before settling on putting him back with Knies and Marner.
“Where does he go, what do we do?” Berube said. “More than anything, I just like the look of that line together and they have played extremely well this year for us.
“Willie (Nylander) and (John) Tavares and (Max) Pacioretty have played well, the (Max) Domi line is playing well together.”
Matthews said he expects to play on Sunday as well, when the Leafs play host to the Philadelphia Flyers. His injury initially popped up in training camp and caused him to miss nine games in November.
“I think you’re always managing stuff throughout the year,” Matthews said. “You try to stay on top of it and try to feel as good as you can when you get in the lineup.”
Said Tavares: “It doesn’t get much better than that, when you get our captain back, one of the best in the world and a unique, special player that does so much for us in all ends of the ice. No one can score goals quite like him.”
Joseph Woll will start in net for the Leafs, with Dennis Hildeby backing up.
Defenceman Chris Tanev, meanwhile, said he did not lose any teeth when he was hit in the mouth by the puck against the New York Islanders on Tuesday, though he was cut for eight or nine stitches.
It was gum that Tanev spat into his hand as he departed the ice, he said.
“The snaggletooth won’t go,” Tanev said jokingly, pointing at his rather prominent top tooth.
More to come …
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