NHL: Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews out, Hurricanes’ Frederik Andersen sidelined at least a week
The Daily Goal Horn
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Toronto Maple Leafs star forward Auston Matthews will sit out his second straight game with an undisclosed injury, coach Sheldon Keefe announced Tuesday morning.
He missed the team’s last game, a win against the New York Islanders.
Matthews skated on the ice Tuesday morning, hours before the Maple Leafs (50-20-6, 106 points) were slated to host the Philadelphia Flyers (23-42-11, 57 points).
Keefe refused to divulge the nature of the injury for Matthews, who also sat out Toronto’s 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Sunday.
Matthews, 24, is in the midst of a career season. Entering play on Tuesday, Matthews has an NHL-leading 58 goals to go along with 44 assists and 102 points in 70 games this season.
“We’re not just resting Auston in this case,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “He’s got an injury that maybe he could play through but that doesn’t make sense to do so. It just speaks to the fact that we are looking bigger picture here. We’ve got individual accomplishments, team accomplishments in the regular season. We’re mindful of them and they’re important in their own way, but the ultimate goal is for us to be ready to compete come playoff time. That’s what it’s all about.”
NHL
Hurricanes Frederik Andersen to be evaluated next week
Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen is expected to be sidelined at least one week because of a lower-body injury, coach Rod Brind’Amour announced.
Andersen sustained the injury during the third period of the Hurricanes’ 7-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.
“That’ll be probably re-evaluated in about a week,” Brind’Amour said prior to Carolina’s 5-3 win against the Arizona Coyotes on Monday. “We’ll get a sense of where he’s at then.”
Andersen, 32, sports a 35-14-3 record with four shutouts, an NHL second-best 2.17 goals-against average and .922 save percentage in 52 games (51 starts) this season.
He is 261-114-51 with 23 shutouts, a 2.59 GAA and .916 save percentage in 445 career games (432 starts) with the Anaheim Ducks, Toronto Maple Leafs and Hurricanes.
Antti Raanta is expected to serve as the Hurricanes’ primary goaltender in Andersen’s absence.
–Field Level Media