Don’t expect to see Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews on Saturday.
Matthews didn’t practise on Friday at the Ford Performance Centre as he continues to recover from an upper-body injury.
When the Leafs play host to Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers at Scotiabank Arena, Matthews will miss a sixth consecutive game.
Toronto has compiled a record of 4-1-0 without Matthews in its past five games, improving to 39-20-2 in games that Matthews has missed in his National Hockey League career.
Centre Max Domi also did not practise on Friday as he was given a maintenance day. It’s the second time this week that Domi was not on the ice for that reason. He was absent on Monday as well, but has not missed a game.
Domi hasn’t produced much in 18 games this season, recording just six assists. He has no points in his past 12 games, the longest drought of his NHL career.
As for Matthews, giving him the time to get healthy is a prudent move on the part of the Leafs. Their schedule is light — they have just five games in the rest of November and don’t play on the road again until Nov. 27 — and there’s no reason to rush Matthews back into the lineup.
After Saturday, the Leafs’ next game is next Wednesday when the Vegas Golden Knights make their only visit of the 2024-25 regular season.
This was how the Leafs lined up at practice on Friday:
FORWARDS
LW-C-RW
Bobby McMann-John Tavares-Mitch Marner
Matthew Knies-William Nylander-Nick Robertson
Alex Steeves-David Kampf-Nick Robertson
Connor Dewar-Steven Lorentz-Ryan Reaves
DEFENCE
Morgan Rielly-Jani Hakanpaa
Jake McCabe-Chris Tanev
Oliver Ekman-Larsson—Conor Timmins
Simon Benoit-Philippe Myers
GOAL
Anthony Stolarz
Joseph Woll
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