Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe announced on Saturday that star forward Auston Matthews will be out of the line-up with a wrist injury.
Matthews did not practice with the team in Edmonton on Friday, and was listed as day-to-day with a wrist/hand injury.
The Scottsdale, Arizona native appeared to re-aggravate the wrist injury after crashing into the boards in Wednesday night's overtime win against Calgary. Sheldon Keefe provided an update following the game, and it came as to the surprise of many when he said that Matthews had been dealing with a wrist issue all season long.
"We'll see how he is. They'll continue to take care of him and monitor it," Keefe said about Matthews after Wednesday's game. "We don't think it's anything more at this point than what he's been dealing with virtually all season."
It's remarkable to see that Matthews has been playing really well this season, despite dealing with an injury to his wrist. In 20 games, he's tallied 31 points (18 G, 13 A), 4 penalty minutes, and is a +10.
Auston Matthews is out tonight, according to Sheldon Keefe.— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) February 27, 2021
Meanwhile, in Washington, the Capitals have announced that forward Evgeny Kuznetsov would miss Saturday afternoon's tilt against the New Jersey Devils with an upper-body injury, and is listed as day-to-day. He took a maintenance day on Friday, missing practice, but ultimately was not cleared to play Saturday.
Kuznetsov had only returned to the Capitals line-up two weeks ago after being on the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list for nearly a month.
The 28-year old has appeared in 11 games this season, recording 6 points (2 G, 4 A), 6 penalty minutes, and is a +/-0.
#Caps Evgeny Kuznetsov is out with an upper body injury and will not play today vs NJ. He is listed as day-to-day.— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) February 27, 2021
