Toronto star Matthews out at least four weeks
Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews, the NHL’S second-leading goal scorer this season, is expected to miss at least four weeks because of an injured left shoulder, coach Mike Babcock said.
The 21-year-old was placed on injured reserve Monday but will not need surgery. He was injured early in the second period Saturday during Toronto’s 3-2 win over Winnipeg.
Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba delivered a clean shoulder-toshoulder check as Matthews tried to cut in front of the net. Matthews skated to the bench, favoring his left side before heading to the locker room.
This month, Matthews became the third NHL player with seven straight multipoint games to start a season. He has 10 goals and is tied for sixth in the league with 16 points.
Matthews played all 82 games as a rookie in 2016-17 before sitting out 20 times in 2017-18 with various injuries.
Matthews sustained an injury to his right shoulder in February and missed 10 games — the third time he was out following back and concussion problems. Still, he finished second on the team in goals (34) and points (63).
At Vancouver, British Columbia, rookie Elias Pettersson scored twice to back Jacob Markstrom, who had 37 saves, as Vancouver halted Minnesota’s five-game win streak.
Rookie Jordan Greenway scored his first NHL goal for the Wild, who had been an Nhl-best 5-1-1 when their opponent scored first.
Markus Granlund opened the scoring in the first period for the Canucks, and older brother Mikael Granlund had an assist for Minnesota to extend his point streak to eight games (five goals, five assists).
At Toronto, Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm scored 55 seconds apart in the third period, and each added an assist for Calgary, which halted a three-game skid.
Michael Frolik added an empty-net goal to ice the outcome and back Mike Smith, who had 24 saves. Nazem Kadri, playing in his 500th NHL game, scored for Toronto.
Devils: Goaltender Cory Schneider, recovering from offseason hip surgery, was activated from injured reserve.
An 11-year NHL veteran, Schneider, 32, was limited to 40 games last season because of injury, going 17-16-6 with a 2.93 goals-against average. His career mark is 2.36.