Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews will miss up to a month of action after injuring his left shoulder on Saturday and was officially placed on injured reserve on Monday.
While the injury will keep Matthews off the ice for significant time, surgery will not be needed. Matthews was injured on a hit by Winnipeg Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba.
“It’s frustrating, but there’s not much you can do,” Matthews said (h/t NHL.com). “It [stinks], but it’s part of the game. I’m going to work as hard as I can to get back as soon as possible when I’m feeling back to myself. We’ve got a lot of depth on this team, and no doubt everybody is going to be fine and step up.”
“I knew the guy was coming,” Matthews said. “Trying to get a shot off, you don’t really know what to expect because you’re so close to the goalie, so you don’t know if you’re going to get hit going into the goalie. Obviously, he took the body, which is what you’re supposed to do, and he caught me at the right angle.”
“You’ve just got to let it heal, I guess, and do everything I can to stay in shape,” Matthews said. “Obviously, it’s not the position you want to be in, but at least you can still kind of skate once it starts to heal a little bit and feel better, get back on the ice, and try to stay in game shape.
“Regardless of the situation, your health comes first. It’s early (in the season), so you want to come back when you’re feeling ready to go and back to 100 percent.”
