Auston Matthews reaches 30 goals but suffers injury

The DailyFaceoff Morning Report will be released on weekdays, recapping the key news and events from the day before.

We will highlight injuries that will affect today’s games, hot streaks, cold streaks, and anything relevant for everyone from the casual hockey fan to the Fantasy Hockey grinder.

Matthews reaches 30 goals but gets hurt vs. the Hurricanes

Auston Matthews scored his 30th and 31st of the season Monday night, marking the sixth-consecutive season in which he’s scored at least 30 goals. He also became the third player to reach that mark this season, joining Chris Kreider (NYR) and Leon Draisaitl (EDM).

It was not all good for Matthews, though. The Maple Leafs star center had to leave the game in the third period after taking an inadvertent knee to the head from Hurricanes defenseman Brett Pesce. Matthews stayed down for a few moments before being attended to by trainers and eventually skating off under his own power.

The Maple Leafs did not provide an update on Matthews’ status postgame but said that he has a scheduled day off on Tuesday. Expect an update before the team departs for their three-game road trip, which starts Thursday in Calgary.

Marner scores for the eighth straight game

Marner continued his torrid pace on Monday, recording three points (2G / 1A), including the game-winning goal in overtime. Marner has scored in eight consecutive games and has nearly matched his production from his first 26 games over the stretch. He had 21 points (6G / 15A) in his first 26 games and has registered 10 goals and nine assists (19 points) in his last eight.

Malkin and Q. Hughes will not play Tuesday due to COVID-19

Quite a few players around the league tested positive for COVID-19 upon returning to their teams from the All-Star break. Penguins center Evgeni Malkin and Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes are two of the more notable players who will not be available for Tuesday’s games due to COVID-19 protocol.

For the Penguins, Jeff Carter will move up to center the second line, and Evan Rodrigues will shift to center on the third line to fill in for Malkin.

The Canucks will thrust Noah Juulsen into heavy, top-pairing minutes without Hughes, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson should quarterback the top power-play unit.

The Winnipeg Jets were also hit by COVID-19 on Monday, placing Pierre-Luc Dubois, Neal Pionk and Austin Poganski in COVID-19 protocol.

Murray continues to impress in Ottawa

Murray struggled in the first few months of the season, going 0-5-0 with a 3.26 GAA and .890 SV%. That led to a demotion to the AHL. Since returning to the Senators at the start of January, he has gone 5-1-2 with a 2.33 GAA, .930 SV%, and one shutout in eight starts. Murray is starting to look a lot more like the goalie the Senators thought they were getting when they signed him to a four-year deal worth $25 million ($6.25M AAV) in 2020.

Canada beats the USA in the preliminary round

In the first Olympic meeting between Canada and the United States since the 2018 gold medal game, Canada won 4-2 to take first place in Group A of the women’s hockey tournament. For more information, Chris Peters has an entire breakdown of the game.