Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews' injury presents steep challenge for Toronto

The Toronto Maple Leafs announced that star forward Auston Matthews will be out day-to-day due to a lower-body injury. Matthews suffered the injury on a blocked shot in Sunday’s overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings. He missed Tuesday morning’s practice and was designated as a game-time decision before being ruled out.

The Maple Leafs are already down forward Dakota Joshua and defenseman Chris Tanev due to injury. Defender Matt Benning and forward Jacob Quillan were recalled to fill-in for those absences. Calle Jarnkrok will also step back into the lineup for Matthews after four games on the shelf.

Even with the committee effort, and a quiet year from their star, Toronto is still going to face a steep test trying to make up for Matthews’ absence. He snapped a four-game scoring drought on Dec. 27 and has four points in two games since. That brings Matthews up to 27 points in 33 games this season, good for fourth on the team in scoring. He is riding a 11.7 shooting percentage this season — roughly four percent lower than his career average of 15.6 percent. Matthews’ shooting success has dwindled over the last two seasons after he managed a career-high 18.7 percent — and 69 goals — in the 2023-24 season.

Quillan and Jarnkrok will fill out the fourth-line on Tuesday night, while Scott Laughton earns a bump up to the third line. Laughton has stepped up as a responsible veteran over the recent stretch, bringing some support to a Maple Leafs offense that has leaned more on their depth as of late. His defense-first approach has helped multiple depth players step up their scoring. Toronto has scored 16 goals over their last three games, with multiple points from Matias Maccelli, Bobby McMann and Nicholas Robertson. Those players will need to continue stepping up to keep the offense firing without Matthews in the lineup.