USA/Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews dealing with 'new' injury
USA's Auston Matthews missed the meaningless round-robin game against Sweden earlier this week, due to being 'banged and nicked' up according to head coach Mike Sullivan. Turns out Matthews latest injury set back is unrelated to his previous one that he's been dealing with throughout the NHL season.
Matthews admitted prior to Thursday night's final against Canada, there was no chance he was going to miss the biggest showdown the countries have seen in close to a decade. “There’s no way I was missing this game,” Matthews said Wednesday per Sportsnet’s Luke Fox, two days after missing the round-robin final versus Sweden due to an upper-body injury.
Auston Matthews on the atmosphere in TD Garden in big games: “It’s one of the best in the league. … It'll be kind of nice to have the home crowd support in this building.” pic.twitter.com/DSUwjtA68s
— Scott McLaughlin (@smclaughlin9) February 19, 2025
Matthews confirmed to Fox this ailment was something new, however also an upper-body injury, which is something worth noting. Matthews travelled to Germany in November to get more opinions on his injury, which some believe could be related to back spasms.
The USA/Maple Leafs' captain has missed a total of 15 NHL games this season, and throughout the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, has recorded one assist in three games. He's certainly due for a breakout game, and it could be coming against Maple Leafs' teammate Mitch Marner and the rest of Team Canada.
Meanwhile, after the 4 Nations Face-off Final, Matthews will rejoin his Leafs' teammates and continue on a season where he's scored 20 goals and 25 assists for 45 points through 40 outings with the Maple Leafs, including seven points in the four games prior to breaking for the 4 Nations Face-Off.Auston Matthews says he’s feeling “a lot better.” He said he was scratched on Monday to just focus on feeling better #4Nations pic.twitter.com/MJWsK4h1hK
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 19, 2025
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