Maple Leafs Coach Craig Berube Confirms How Auston Matthews Suffered His Injury
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube has officially confirmed how captain Auston Matthews suffered his unfortunate injury in Buffalo.
As the Toronto Maple Leafs look to build on their impressive 6-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres and extend their three-game win streak, they will unfortunately be without the two-time 60-goal scorer Matthews for tonight's matchup against the New York Islanders.
Matthews sustained the injury after taking a cross-check to the back from Buffalo's Dennis Gilbert, which aggravated the same injury that had previously sidelined Matthews for nine games earlier this season.
Head coach Craig Berube addressed the incident, as reported by David Alter on X:
''He took a cross-check there in the late third period on the power play. You know, just aggravated it.''
Here is a look at the hit, as shared by TicTacOmar on X:
Berube also spoke about Gilbert's intent and clarified that he didn't believe the hit was an attempt to injure Matthews:
''You've got to look at the game. We knew they were going to be a hard team. They lost 11 in a row. He's just trying to get his team going. I don't see him being targeted, but, you know, he got hit. He took that cross-check for me. That's a penalty. Should have been a 5-on-3 automatic. But, you know, I'm not the ref.''
Despite Matthews' absence, the Maple Leafs have been in strong form this season. With a 21-10-2 record and they sit atop the Atlantic Division, looking to add another two points on Saturday night.
While the team will need to make adjustments to their lines without Matthews, their recent success, coupled with Berube's new coaching approach, should provide confidence that they will be up to the challenge tonight against the Islanders.
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