To say Auston Matthews’ health this season was in question would be an understatement. The 27-year-old captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs has missed 15 out of 42 games for the Leafs with an upper-body injury, but since returning from injury for the second time this season on January 4, the star centre has been on fire.
To truly understand the legitimacy of this injury return from Matthews, however, we must look back at the injury itself and his play prior to the new year.
Matthews’ November–December injury bug
Matthews initially sustained his injury during a game against the Minnesota Wild on November 3. While Matthews did play the entirety of the contest—putting in over 22 minutes of total ice time—the game would be his last for nearly a full month.
His time away from the ice was filled with much speculation from media and fans alike regarding whether this was just your average injury or something that should hold serious concern. This speculation was heightened when it was reported that Matthews visited a doctor in Germany to aid with his injury recovery.
The doctor in question was German physician, Dr. Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt. Muller-Wohlfahrt is a renowned sports physician who has a patient list including eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt and more recently treated San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey for his Achilles injury at his clinic. So, while Matthews’ trip to Germany may have had some worried about the injury’s severity, Matthews was definitely in great hands.
Initial injury return
After 27 days of recovery, Matthews finally returned to the ice for the Leafs against the Tampa Bay Lightning on November 30, pitching in two assists in the Leafs’ 5–3 victory. Matthews had a solid enough showing in the games following, putting up six goals and 12 points in 11 games, but after seeing more limited minutes in the final two games of that stretch, it was announced that Matthews would miss time once again. This time it would be until the new year on January 4.
New year, new Auston
Matthews had a lot of questions coming into his second injury return. He had been pretty good for the 11 games before his injury hiatus, but he wasn’t the electric star that potted a league-best 69 goals last season. Luckily for the Leafs and their fans, Matthews has looked the part in his first three games back.
Against the rival Boston Bruins in his first game back, Matthews contributed a goal and two assists in just 17:32 of ice time en route to a 6–4 Leafs victory—just his second three-point performance of the season, the first being in a win against the Los Angeles Kings back on October 16. And moreover, Matthews was an impressive plus-five on the night, adding even more promise to what was an extremely solid return effort.
In the following two games, Matthews played solid again, putting up two assists in a 3–2 overtime win over the Philadelphia Flyers on January 5 and a goal and an assist in a 3–2 regulation win against those same Flyers two nights after. Furthermore, his two points in that game gave him his 200th career multi-point game. Those three wins with Matthews back also added to an existing two-game winning streak, now putting the Leafs at five wins in a row—their longest winning streak of the season thus far.
What’s next for Matthews
The sample size is definitely small, but Matthews appears to be in the best form that we have seen this season. There is of course the worry of his nagging injury, but Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported prior to Matthews’ return game against Boston that the star centre had no interest in being a part-time player and wants to fight through his nagging injury.
“The more I think about it the more it makes sense from his point of view. He has no desire to return on a game-in, game-out basis,” said Friedman. “This is not about playing here or there. Matthews’ goal is to show he’s healthy enough to play every game.”
This mentality will hopefully bode well for Matthews as he aims to continue and even improve on this three-game stretch, and for the Leafs, who currently hold a six standings point lead over the Florida Panthers for the top spot in the Atlantic division.
Additionally, Matthews’ improved play and desire to keep fighting should make it even more likely that he keeps his spot on Team USA for February’s 4 Nations Face-Off, a tournament that will see him as possibly the most crucial piece for the Americans. For Leafs fans though, they will be happy enough if Matthews can produce more performances like the past three as 2025 progresses.
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