Auston Matthews is expected to return for the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; FDSNSUN, SNP, SNO, SNE, CBC).
The center and Toronto captain last played Nov. 3 because of an upper-body injury, having missed the past nine games. Matthews had been skating on his own since returning to North America on Nov. 22 following a five-day trip to Germany to visit a doctor, who both he and other Maple Leafs players have seen in the past for further consultation.
Matthews centered a line with Matthew Knies and William Nylander at practice on Friday.
"In my mind, I'm playing tomorrow and I'm excited to be back," Matthews said. "I didn't forget how to play hockey over the last three weeks but obviously there's going to be a little bit of rust and a little bit of excitement to be back and playing again."
Matthews, who has 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 13 games this season, returned to his first full practice on Tuesday and said he would probably need a few more practices before returning to the lineup.
"I think we have unbelievable chemistry together when we play together, the way we find each other and obviously it's the best goal scorer in the League so it's fun to play with him," Nylander said of Matthews on Friday.
The Maple Leafs are 7-2-0 in their nine games without Matthews and are one point ahead of the Florida Panthers for first place in the Atlantic Division. They are 42-21-2 without Matthews since he entered the League in 2016-17.
Matthews led the League with a career-high 69 goals last season and has scored at least 40 goals in each of the past five seasons. Since entering the NHL in the 2016-17 season, he leads the NHL with 373 goals, 30 more than Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, who is second.
"It's not fun watching obviously, it definitely kills me not to be out there but like I said the other day, the guys have been playing really well," Matthews said. "I think it's a sign of great things to come, a great team. Obviously with the loss [to the Florida Panthers on Wednesday], we want to get back on track and end the road trip on the right foot."
