The center and Maple Leafs captain missed six games after reaggravating the injury Dec. 20 that forced him to miss nine in November.
“It’s exciting,” Matthews said after the morning skate. “It’s never fun watching, so I feel excited about being back in. Just been trying to work back into things and just trying to feel good. That’s about it.”
Matthews centered a line between left wing Matthew Knies and right wing Mitch Marner at the morning skate and participated in power-play drills.
“There’s a lot of discussion about (who Matthews would play with), where does he go and what do we do, but more than anything I just like the look of that line together and they’ve played extremely well for us,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said.
John Tavares, who played with Marner during Matthews’ latest absence, will center a line with left wing Max Pacioretty and right wing William Nylander.
“(Matthews) is our captain, he’s a great player, we all know that,” Berube said. “Having him in the lineup gives you a lot more options, obviously, and he just drives the pace of play. He’s an extremely hard worker, plays 200 feet. The pace goes up for everybody.”
Matthews participated in the morning skate Thursday prior to a 2-1 win at the New York Islanders. He skated in a noncontact jersey Wednesday during his second consecutive practice but competed in drills.
“You’re always kind of managing stuff throughout the year and just trying to stay on top of it and trying to feel as good as you can when you get in the lineup,” Matthews said. “I think the last couple skates I’ve had I’ve felt good, so I’ve just had positive progress throughout those and I’ve been feeling confident day by day.”
Berube said he will be cognizant of how much Matthews plays coming off his second absence of the season and playing his first game in 15 days.
“It’s tough, because he’s the type of guy you want on the ice as much as you can,” Berube said. “But at the same time, my job is to manage that and we will get communication from him, how he’s feeling, and so we will try to limit that as best we can.”
Matthews did not participate in a full morning skate prior to the 6-3 win against the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 20 but scored and played 19:18. He took two hard hits in the game, one from Sabres forward Tage Thompson in the first period and a cross-check from defenseman Dennis Gilbert in the third period.
“A couple different things, but I’d say that definitely (the hits) did not help the cause,” Matthews said. “Rest is helping. I’m not somebody who likes to stay still for long, so I’m just trying to do what I can maybe without overexerting certain things. Just trying to stay in as good shape as you can when you can’t skate.”
Matthews missed nine games in November because of an upper-body injury before returning Nov. 30, a 5-3 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning. During his recovery, he took a five-day trip to Germany to visit a doctor who both he and other Maple Leafs players have seen in the past for consultation. The injury was one he had been managing since missing time during the preseason.
He said he is unsure if he will be able to put the issue entirely behind him at any point this season.
“Yeah, I don’t know,” Matthews said. “I hope so, that’s obviously the goal. It’s tricky with these things. It’s a physical sport, it’s a contact sport, so things happen out there sometimes that are out of your control, so just trying to manage it as best I can.”
Neither Matthews nor Berube have offered any further specifics as to the nature of the previous injury, though the coach did indicate earlier it is not related to the wrist injury Matthews previously had surgery on during the 2021 offseason.
Matthews had 12 points (six goals, six assists) in 11 games after returning from the injury in November, helping Toronto to an 8-3-0 record during that span. He is fourth on the Maple Leafs with 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists) in 24 games this season.
“It doesn’t get much better than that when we get our captain back, one of the best in the world, just a unique special player that does so much for us in all areas of the ice,” Tavares said. “No one can score goals quite like him, so obviously we’re thrilled. I know it’s been up and down for him and been frustrating at times, but he’s just continued to stay with what he’s got to do to work through it and get himself ready to play and feeling good, so I know he’s excited.”
Matthews led the League with a career-high 69 goals last season and has scored at least 40 goals in each of the previous five seasons. Since entering the NHL in the 2016-17 season, he leads the NHL with 379 goals.
Toronto (24-13-2) went 7-2-0 without Matthews in November and 3-3-0 during his most recent absence.
“It’s not always going to be pretty, but just to be able to find a way to win whether it’s through good goaltending, good special teams, it’s not going to be perfect every night,” Matthews said. “Good teams find a way to win, and obviously you like to be able to win in different ways. We’ve shown we can do that, and tonight is going to be another good test and another good challenge for us against another good team in our division.”
