Toronto Maple Leafs Confirm Auston Matthews Headed Back to Sidelines

With the Christmas break right around the corner, the extra few days off will be a boon for many teams afflicted with injuries. The Toronto Maple Leafs have been hit relatively hard this season and it looks like the injury bug has bitten Auston Matthews again, as the captain has been ruled out for tonight's contest against the New York Islanders.

Sportsnet's Chris Johnston revealed that the captain would be out for tonight's game after re-aggravating the same injury that kept him out for 9 games in November. With the Leafs scheduled for one more game before the break on Monday, Matthews is also deemed questionable for that tilt.

Matthews was sidelined with a mysterious upper-body injury at the beginning of November before being placed on the IR. The team deemed it as a day-to-day injury at first, saying it wasn't overly serious, but then he eventually travelled abroad to Germany to see a specialist.

He later revealed that he had been dealing with a nagging injury since the pre-season and it finally flared up to a point of no return in November. Craig Berube mentioned yesterday how Matthews had been fighting through an ailment and it looks like we have the final confirmation on what it could have been.

Matthews came back with a bang as he recorded 6 goals and 12 points in 11 games, including a power play marker in last night's win over Buffalo. On the season he has 11 goals and 23 points in 24 games.

It remains to be seen how serious this injury is going to be, but considering it's a re-aggravation, the fact that he has an injury history, and the Maple Leafs are heading towards the holiday break, it wouldn't be all too surprising if they proceeded with caution with the former MVP.

Expect Mitch Marner and William Nylander to shoulder the offensive burden once again in his absence.