Auston Matthews will miss Saturday night's game and likely won't play until after the holidays, and now we know the moment that reaggravated his injury during a victory over the Buffalo Sabres.
Despite being back on the ice for a few weeks now, Auston Matthews has never seemingly gotten back to 100% from the injury that had him sidelined for months early in the season.
Now, the team has confirmed he'll miss Saturday's game against the New York Islanders, with fears that this could linger for quite some time.
Now, a video from Toronto's latest game has surfaced on social media, perhaps suggesting the exact moment that Matthews re-injured himself in what could be a major moment for the Maple Leafs this season.
In their latest victory over the Buffalo Sabres, Matthews took a cross-check to the back from defenseman Dennis Gilbert, and when slowed down it looked absolutely brutal, and could be the reason for Matthews' injury.
Somehow, the officials did not call a penalty on this play despite staring right at it, and given the hip issues that Matthews has dealt with, an unexpected stick to the back will certainly do plenty of damage.
We're yet to hear specifics from the Maple Leafs about Matthews' absence, but as of right now he's considered day-to-day, and with the team having just one game between now and December 27th, it could be a good opportunity to get him some rest.
Ultimately though, this was quite the dirty and unnecessary play from Gilbert, and it could result in lingering issues all season long for the Toronto Maple Leafs captain, but the hope in Toronto is that he can get treatment in the coming days and get back on the ice, close to 100% once the Christmas break is over.
