Maple Leafs Coach Craig Berube Shares Assessment of Auston Matthews in His Return
The Maple Leafs secured a 6-4 win over the Boston Bruins on Saturday and Craig Berube has offered up his assessment of how Auston Matthews played in his return.
After missing 9 games in the month of November, Auston Matthews re-aggrivated his upper-body injury against the Buffalo Sabres in the month of December, which had cost him an additional 6 games on the sidelines.
Last night against the Boston Bruins, Matthews made his triumphant return, to the tune of a 3-point night (1g, 2a), a +5 rating, 5 shots on goal, and 1 hit in just 17:32 of ice time.
After the game, head coach Craig Berube was asked what he thought of Matthews' play. Here's what the head coach had to say during his post-game media session about his captain in his return to game action:
I thought he was very smart tonight. He didn't overexert himself or put himself in tough spots.
We managed his minutes pretty well, I thought. I used him a little more at the end of the game, obviously, but it kind of got to that point."
Berube confirmed that the player and the team are focused on managing his minutes in an attempt to keep his injury in check.
Matthews' injury is not something that will require surgery. It's just something he'll have to continue to try to work through. Because of this, we can likely expect more managing of his minutes going forward, as Berube alluded to after the game.
The 3-point effort against Boston has pushed Matthews up over the point-per-game mark, giving him 26 points in 25 games so far this season.
Matthews seems to have a level head about his minutes being limited, as he knows it's for the greater good. This isn't an easy feat for someone who is used to playing over 20 minutes per game.
There's still some dialogue about whether or not he should play for Team USA at the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off, but if he can get his injury to the point where it becomes a non-issue, or that he's making good progress, it's likely that we'll see arguably the greatest goal scorer in America don the red, white and blue in February.
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