The Toronto Maple Leafs and head coach Mike Babcock didn't keep people waiting until game time to know if superstar center Auston Matthews would play on Thursday. Matthews has missed two straight games now since being accidentally knocked out by teammate Morgan Rielly. While it has yet to be confirmed, heavy speculation is that Matthews continues to suffer from concussion like syndromes. It's starting to look highly possible as Matthews was held out from practice Wednesday and Babcock has already declared Matthews out of Thursday's game against the Minnesota Wild. According to the Leafs, he's continuing to recover from an "upper body injury". The Leafs had been undefeated without Matthews in the lineup until their loss to the Flyers. The team is now 5-1-0 without Matthews in the lineup. The superstar forward has 13 goals and 26 points so far this season, but has only one goal in his last nine games.
