‘I’m back and excited’: Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews says he’s returning Saturday

While speaking to the media after practice on Friday, Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews stated that he will be in the lineup on Saturday night when the team faces off with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“In my mind, I’m back and excited to play tomorrow,” Matthews said.

Matthews participated in full practice in Fort Lauderdale. He was on the top power-play unit with Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares, and Matthew Knies–an all-forward group.

The product out of Arizona hasn’t been in the lineup since Nov. 3, with the team revealing an upper-body injury put him on the shelf. Matthews went to great lengths for treatment for the unspecified ailment, traveling to Germany to seek out help earlier this month.

Matthews was placed on injured reserve back on Nov. 8. However, head coach Craig Berube assured that it had nothing to do with the wrist injuries he suffered in the past. The former ZSC Lion missed the Leafs’ last nine games, in which the team did well in his absence, going 7-2-0 in that span, including a four-game win streak that was cut short in the first half of the Leafs’ trip through the Sunshine State, losing to the Florida Panthers this past Wednesday.

The 27-year-old appeared in Toronto’s first 13 games of the season, scoring five goals and six assists for 11 points, a little off the point-per-game average we have grown accustomed to seeing from the former first-overall pick.

In 575 career appearances, Matthews has scored 373 goals and 287 assists for 660 points, including another 48 points in 55 postseason games.

The Maple Leafs (13-7-2) sit first in the Atlantic Division, one point ahead of the Panthers. They’re matchup with the Bolts is set for 7 p.m. ET.