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After a day away from the ice, the Toronto Maple Leafs got back to work at their practice facility in Etobicoke, ON on Wednesday, trying to shake off four straight losses on their road trip, ending with two bad performances against the Washington Capitals and Buffalo Sabres.
Auston Matthews was on the ice at the MasterCard Centre, skating with teammates and taking part in a few drills, but wore a red non-contact jersey and did not take part in line rushes.
The injured center has been out less than two weeks with a Grade-2 shoulder separation and all indications from Leafs head coach Mike Babcock is that Matthews is not ready to return for the club’s next game against Pittsburgh on Saturday.
Auston Matthews practising with the Leafs for the first time since sustaining a shoulder injury on Feb. 22 pic.twitter.com/czEBttnVmI
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) March 7, 2018
"I don’t know what (the medical staff) will do, I just noticed he was wearing red today,… Babcock said after practice. “We don’t have a whole lot of red in our uniforms."
Toronto’s light schedule gives them the luxury of being methodical and patient with their leading goal scorer, who has fallen four points behind Mitch Marner for the club scoring lead.
Following Saturday’s matchup against the Stanley Cup champion Penguins, the Leafs next action is Wednesday at home against the Dallas Stars, followed by two contests against non-playoff teams (a return to Buffalo on Thursday and Montreal’s first visit to Toronto on Saturday).
The club’s double-digit lead for third place in the Atlantic Division also allows Matthews not to be rushed back into service, because doing so would risk re-injury or limit the effectiveness of the 20-year-old upon his return.
Matthews didn't take part in line rushes and leaves practice after about 25 minutes pic.twitter.com/zrlFEV1X41
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) March 7, 2018
“We have three days off in six days (over the next week), which we’ve planned into our schedule.… Babcock said. “(We) set it up so the guys could get recharged, we also feel that we can get skating way better as a group and that is a huge priority for us.…
That appeared to be the case when Matthews returned from his first trip to the injured list (with a sore back) in early November. After scoring two goals in his return against the Canadiens on November 18, the Calder Trophy winner scored just once in nine games, was -3 and looked out of sorts before being concussed in a collision with Morgan Rielly on December 9.
Having Matthews in top form may be just as important as Frederik Andersen being sharp when it comes playoff time next month and until then, it is up to the Leafs supporting cast to put forth a better effort to pull them out of their current slide.
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