TORONTO — Auston Matthews did not play for the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday and could be out one week because of a lower-body injury.
The Maple Leafs captain was injured in a 5-3 loss at the Boston Bruins on Tuesday. Coach Craig Berube said the injury did not occur when Matthews was hit by Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov along the boards at 8:30 of the second period, even though he exited the game 30 seconds later.
“I’m hoping a week maybe but maybe sooner,” Berube said. “But we will just see. It’s one of those things he could come (back) in a couple days from now and be feeling a lot better, and hopefully he is good to go but we will see. It could be as long as a week.”
Berube added that it was a new injury and that Matthews had not been dealing with any nagging issues prior to the game.
Matthews has 14 points in 17 games this season and is tied with John Tavares for the team lead in goals with nine. He had not missed a game this season after missing 15 last year because of an upper-body injury.
Toronto is 45-24-2 all time without Matthews in the lineup, including 10-5-0 last season.
“We played last year without him for a while,” Berube said. “It’s a next-man-up mentality. Guys get a bigger bite here, a bigger role. (We’ll need) a better team game.”
Tavares was elevated to Matthews’ place on a line with forwards Matthew Knies and William Nylander for their game against the Kings.
“I don’t really try to change a whole lot. I try to be really good all over the ice and make sure the process to my game is really strong playing with and without the puck and naturally try to make an impact, help the team and build chemistry with my linemates,” Tavares said. “In general, the way I try to prepare and take care of myself I think, I don’t know if it needs to be emphasized, but that’s when things like this happen or you’re playing a little bit more or you’re playing four games in six days, you are in a better position to handle the workload.”
Max Domi, who replaced Tavares on a line with forwards Nicholas Robertson and Bobby McMann, took Matthews’ place on the top power-play unit with Tavares, Knies, Nylander, and defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
“He’s an amazing playmaker,” Nylander said of Domi. “He can thread the needle, so it will be a lot of fun to have him out there (on the power play).”
Goalie Anthony Stolarz is day to day with an upper-body injury. He allowed three goals on 11 shots before leaving after the first period against the Bruins on Tuesday.
Arthur Akhtyamov was recalled from Toronto of the American Hockey League on Thursday and backed up Dennis Hildeby against the Kings.
Scott Laughton, who skated on his own prior to Thursday’s morning skate, was placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Nov. 8, because of a lower-body injury. The center was injured in a 5-3 home loss to the Bruins that night, which was his second game of the season after missing the first 13 with a lower-body injury.
Although Toronto is third in the NHL in goals with 62, they are tied for last in goals against with the Nashville Predators at 65. Without Matthews, Nylander said the key is not to look to replace his offensive production but to improve defensively.
“I think that defensively we have been struggling, and that is something that can be fixed and you can adjust and make changes to be better at that, better attention to details,” Nylander said. “I would be more worried if we weren’t scoring goals, because that’s harder to do. Not letting in goals has been hard for us this year and that’s something we can change and adjust and do better at.”
