Maple Leafs Confirm Auston Matthews' Status for Monday's Game Against Jets

Over the weekend, Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews was banged up during a meeting with the Buffalo Sabres after taking a stiff cross-check from defenseman Dennis Gilbert, which was confirmed to have re-aggrivated the upper-body injury that forced him to the sidelines for almost the entire month of November.

As a result of the injury, Matthews was held out of Saturday's 6-3 loss to the New York Islanders, and head coach Craig Berube also mentioned that Matthews' status for Monday's game would be questionable.

Unfortunately for fans, 1 game off was not enough for Matthews. On Monday, the Leafs confirmed that Matthews will miss his second straight game.

On Saturday, it was David Kampf who received the golden opportunity to move up into the top 6, slotting in between Matthew Knies and Mitch Marner, allowing the Leafs to keep the Pacioretty-Tavares-Nylander line and the McMann-Domi-Robertson line together. As far as this afternoon's game goes, the line combinations have yet to be revealed.

Matthews missed 9 games the first time around while managing his mysterious upper-body ailment after originally being given a day-to-day timeline. He also travelled to Germany for treatment during his recovery.

At this point, we're all just hoping for the best for the Leafs' captain. The Christmas break should help to provide some relief, but just how much time he misses is very much up in the air.