Auston Matthews to miss third straight Leafs game with mystery injury

Apr 21 2022, 4:28 pm

Auston Matthews is once again scheduled to be out of the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup with an unknown injury.

Ahead of the Leafs’ matchup tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe confirmed that Matthews would be missing his third consecutive game with an undisclosed injury, per TSN’s Mark Masters.

“It is a new injury for [Matthews]. It is something that he hasn’t dealt with before,” Keefe had told reporters on Tuesday following the Leafs’ 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. “Like I said from the beginning, we thought this was a pretty minor situation that he was going to push through quickly. We will just have to make sure we are putting him in a good spot and we have used the appropriate time.”

Matthews did, however, skate with the Leafs at today’s practice in Tampa. Matthews is in the midst of a record-setting season for the Leafs, putting up career highs of 58 goals, 44 assists and a total of 102 in 70 games played so far this season. Matthews’ goal total serves as both the Leafs’ all-time record in a single season, as well as the most by an American-born player in one campaign.

The Lightning is Toronto’s most likely playoff matchup this season, sitting one point up on the fourth-place Boston Bruins. Puck drop is set for tonight’s game at 8 pm ET.

Adam LaskarisAdam Laskaris

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