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The Toronto Maple Leafs will ice close to a full NHL lineup for the first time this preseason against the Montreal Canadiens at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday, but decisions on what players will make up the wingers on the fourth line and bottom defensive pairing took a back seat to the news of Auston Matthews being investigated for an incident of disorderly conduct in Arizona last May.
According to a Scottsdale, AZ police report, Matthews was intoxicated and with a group of friends around 2am, approached a female security guard at a condo complex and tried to get into her vehicle. After failing to do so, he walked away and dropped his pants.
Prior to taking to the ice for a morning skate on Wednesday, Matthews made a statement to the media, but did not take any questions.
“I regret if my actions have been a distraction on the team or put (stress) on any individual. I put a lot of pride in preparing myself for the season and representing the Toronto Maple Leafs as well as I can.… Matthews said. “Due to the situation, I’m afraid I cannot make any other comments.…
Auston Matthews makes a brief statement regarding the disorderly conduct charge brought upon him in Arizona.
— theScore (@theScore) September 25, 2019
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Matthews has a court hearing for the charges in Arizona scheduled for Wednesday, but is not required to be there in person. While the charges are not of a serious nature, it is more a statement on the 22-year-old’s maturity and his readiness to handle leadership responsibilities on the Leafs.
All signs since the start of training camp pointed towards Matthews being named the club’s team captain sometime before the start of the regular season, but the incident likely put that on hold.
“I was disappointed. As the Toronto Maple Leafs, we really pride ourselves on doing things right — on the ice, off the ice, treating people [right]. It is an unfortunate situation.… Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said. “I don’t think it is going to be (a distraction). Anything that goes bad, what you do is you take it and you get better as an organization and it makes you a better organization. We’ve got a close family inside. We are going to look after Auston and we are going to look after our actions.…
The Leafs play Montreal in the second of a home-and-home series after a mostly AHL lineup beat the Habs 3-0 on Monday. The club will dress their projected top three lines and top two defensive pairings, along with the leading contenders for the fourth line and bottom pairing units.
Matthews skated with Andreas Johnsson and William Nylander, John Tavares with Kasperi Kapanen and Mitch Marner, Alex Kerfoot centered Ilya Mikheyev and Trevor Moore, and a fourth line unit consisting of Dmytro Timashov, Frederik Gauthier and Jason Spezza.
The defensive pairings were Morgan Rielly and Cody Ceci, Jake Muzzin and Tyson Barrie, and rookie Rasmus Sandin and Martin Marincin, with Frederik Andersen getting the start and rookie Joseph Woll as the backup.
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The club reduced their roster to 46 players on Wednesday with the reassignment of six players (forwards Nick Baptiste and Colt Conrad(both on AHL contracts), defensemen Joseph Duszak, Mac Hollowell, Jesper Lindgren and Kristians Rubins (also on an AHL contract) to the Toronto Marlies, who opened training camp on Tuesday and will play an exhibition game against the Rochester Americans at the HarborCenter in Buffalo on Friday.
It now appears that the group that beat Montreal on Monday will get one more look in one of the two remaining games against Detroit on the weekend before the club cuts down to 23 or less before the start of the regular season next Wednesday against Ottawa.
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