Auston Matthews could return to practice with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday.
The center left a 4-3 overtime win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday with 42 seconds remaining in the third period after he was hit in the head by Carolina defenseman Brett Pesce‘s knee while falling back into the boards. Matthews remained on the ice for several minutes but skated off under his own power.
“There was a pretty good sense by the time he left [the game Monday] that it wasn’t necessarily going to be a head injury, so that had us feeling pretty good,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said Tuesday. “With the nature of the hit, we’re going to continue to be cautious and make sure he’s feeling good before he gets on the ice.”
Matthews, who played in the 2022 Honda NHL All-Star Game, had a scheduled day off Tuesday and met with doctors. The Maple Leafs play at the Calgary Flames on Thursday.
“He came in today feeling pretty good, so that’s a really good sign obviously for his status in terms of practicing tomorrow,” Keefe said. “We’ll see how he comes in, but today was a very good day.”
Matthews scored two goals Monday and leads Toronto with 31, third in the NHL behind New York Rangers forward Chris Kreider (33) and Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl (32). Matthews’ 53 points are tied for eighth in the NHL.
“Obviously that’s not something you want to see, but he is our guy and hopefully he is OK,” Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly said Monday.
Matthews missed three games this season recovering from offseason wrist surgery.
“Obviously he is a big part of our team, he does a lot for us especially at 3-on-3 hockey,” Toronto forward Mitchell Marner said Monday. “… It’s unfortunate. … Hopefully all is well with him, and we will see.”
NHL.com independent correspondent Dave McCarthy contributed to this report