Maple Leafs’ Matthews unsure if he can leave injury behind this season

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Auston Matthews would love to have an answer.

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The Maple Leafs captain can’t say for sure whether he will be able to put his upper-body injury behind him at some point this season.

“Yeah, I don’t know,” Matthews said after practice on New Year’s Day at the Ford Performance Centre. “I hope so. That’s obviously the goal.

“It’s tricky with these things sometimes. It’s a physical sport, it’s a contact sport, so things happen out there sometimes that are out of your control. Just try to manage as best I can, and we can, and go from there.”

With that in mind, there’s no way Matthews should play for the United States in the 4 Nations Face-off in February, is there?

That Matthews is uncertain that the lingering injury, which started giving him trouble in training camp, can be put to bed during the season should, at the least, raise eyebrows.

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At some point closer to the start of the exhibition tournament involving Canada, the U.S., Sweden and Finland, the Leafs are going to have to make a firm call on Matthews’ participation. Though there’s time before the event starts on Feb. 12 in Montreal, perhaps the Leafs, behind closed doors, are approaching a decision.

What we know today is that when the Leafs and New York Islanders meet on Thursday on Long Island for a rematch following the Leafs’ 3-1 win on Tuesday, Matthews won’t be in the lineup. It will mark the sixth game in a row he has missed since he most recently played on Dec. 20 in Buffalo, and 15th in total after he missed nine games in November with the injury.

There is no timetable for the return of Matthews, who spoke to media for the first time since he played against the Sabres and scored in the Leafs’ 6-3 win.

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Matthews acknowledged that a cross-check from Buffalo defenceman Dennis Gilbert during that game aggravated his injury.

“A little bit,” Matthews said. “It was a couple different things, but I would say that definitely didn’t help the cause.”

Is there discomfort with the injury?

“Discomfort, pain, a number of different things,” Matthews said. “It has been good progress throughout this week. I think it’s always a good gauge, getting into practice and seeing how you feel with that and the competitive aspect of drills.”

Matthews wasn’t skating on a line on Wednesday, instead wearing a grey sweater reserved for scratches.

“It’s always frustrating not playing and stuff like that, but I’m just trying to be mindful of everything that goes on,” Matthews said. “It’s nice to still be around the guys a lot, being able to take part in practices.

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“It’s big, especially when you’ve been out for a little bit. Taking it day by day and feeling good, feeling better every single day. Going to continue to hope for the positive progression and go from there.”

An ideal scenario sees Matthews returning to the lineup after having had at least one practice in which he centres a line and does everything he would do if he was not hurt. The Leafs, though, aren’t scheduled to practise again until next Wednesday in Carolina. Toronto has four games between now and then.

“He’s going in the right direction, which is great,” Leafs coach Craig Berube said. “I know there is no timeline, and we’re all looking for one, but it’s great having him out there.

“I do check in with him when I see him. I don’t bother him too much. When you’re injured as a player and they’re always asking you how you are feeling, it gets annoying. When he is available, he will let us know.

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From the way that the Leafs went through their paces on Wednesday, it appeared Berube will go with the same lines on Thursday that he deployed on Tuesday. Forward Pontus Holmberg was absent again after illness kept him out on Tuesday, though Berube indicated he would be on the trip to New York and a decision on his status would be made on Thursday.

Defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson practised after illness caused him to be scratched. With the expectation that Ekman-Larsson plays against the Islanders, Conor Timmins was on a fourth pair with Marshall Rifai and would come out of the lineup.

“Right now, the situation we’re in with (Matthews), is I’m preparing the team to play without him,” Berube said. “We will know when he is ready and we’ll make adjustments.”

tkoshan@postmedia.com

X: @koshtorontosun

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