Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/auston-matthews-set-return-maple-leafs-lineup-saturday-bruins">will be returning to the lineup Saturday against the Boston Bruins</a> after missing the team&#8217;s last six games due to an upper-body injury.
Matthews looked explosive during Saturday&#8217;s practice, and was placed on a line alongside Matthew Knies and Mitch Marner. During line rushes, Matthews ripped a shot off the crossbar and in, much to the delight of his teammates. Matthews was in a great mood and broke down the team stretch at the end of the session, with stick taps all around for Philippe Myers&#8217; two-year extension.
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We’ll get a better sense if Matthews is playing tonight in a bit but he’s skating alongside Matthew Knies and Mitch Marner and just ripped a shot that exploded off the bar and in.
&mdash; Arun Srinivasan (@Arunthings) <a href="https://twitter.com/Arunthings/status/1875565771587514869?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;I think the last couple skates I&#8217;ve had, I&#8217;ve felt good. I&#8217;ve made progress throughout those and feeling confident day-by-day,&#8221; Matthews said after the morning skate.
Matthews took reps on Toronto&#8217;s first power play unit alongside Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares and Morgan Rielly. He was skating and shooting with his full pace, and it&#8217;s clear that Berube wants to run back the Knies-Matthews-Marner line.
&#8220;They&#8217;ve had good success together,&#8221; Berube said with a laugh, before expanding on his decision. &#8220;I think more than anything I just like the look of that line together, they&#8217;ve played extremely well together this year for us. Willy (Nylander) and (John) Tavares and (Max) Pacioretty have played well, the Domi line has played well together, just had to make some lineup decisions with (Ryan) Reaves and (Pontus) Holmberg.&#8221;
Berube said it&#8217;s his job to manage Matthews, knowing that it&#8217;s imperative to protect his star playeer from further injury.
&#8220;He&#8217;s our captain. He&#8217;s a great player, we all know that. Having him in the lineup gives you a lot more options, obviously. He drives the pace of play. Extremely hard worker, he plays 200 feet, pace goes up,&#8221; Berube said of Matthews.
&#8220;He&#8217;s the type of guy you want on the ice as much as you can. At the same time, it&#8217;s my job to manage that.&#8221;
Myers was celebrated for the two-year extension he signed Friday, providing the 28-year-old with stability in the organization, getting stick taps from his teammates.
&#8220;I&#8217;m very happy for him. I thought in camp he earned a job, which is important for a guy like that coming in,&#8221; Berube said of Myers. &#8220;He played extremely well in training camp and here he&#8217;s got a two-year deal and he&#8217;s playing for us, and he&#8217;s playing well. He&#8217;s physical, he&#8217;s simple, on the penalty kill and he&#8217;s got great size and reach.&#8221;
Here is the Maple Leafs&#8217; projected lineup for Saturday&#8217;s game: 
Matthew Knies-Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner
Max Pacioretty-John Tavares-William Nylander
Bobby McMann-Max Domi-Nick Robertson
Steven Lorentz-David Kampf-Connor Dewar 
Morgan Rielly-Philippe Myers
Jake McCabe-Chris Tanev 
Simon Benoit-Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Joseph Woll (confirmed starter)
Dennis Hildeby

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/auston-matthews-set-return-maple-leafs-lineup-saturday-bruins">will be returning to the lineup Saturday against the Boston Bruins</a> after missing the team's last six games due to an upper-body injury.

Matthews looked explosive during Saturday's practice, and was placed on a line alongside Matthew Knies and Mitch Marner. During line rushes, Matthews ripped a shot off the crossbar and in, much to the delight of his teammates. Matthews was in a great mood and broke down the team stretch at the end of the session, with stick taps all around for Philippe Myers' two-year extension.

https://twitter.com/Arunthings/status/1875565771587514869

"I think the last couple skates I've had, I've felt good. I've made progress throughout those and feeling confident day-by-day," Matthews said after the morning skate.

Matthews took reps on Toronto's first power play unit alongside Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares and Morgan Rielly. He was skating and shooting with his full pace, and it's clear that Berube wants to run back the Knies-Matthews-Marner line.

"They've had good success together," Berube said with a laugh, before expanding on his decision. "I think more than anything I just like the look of that line together, they've played extremely well together this year for us. Willy (Nylander) and (John) Tavares and (Max) Pacioretty have played well, the Domi line has played well together, just had to make some lineup decisions with (Ryan) Reaves and (Pontus) Holmberg."

Berube said it's his job to manage Matthews, knowing that it's imperative to protect his star playeer from further injury.

"He's our captain. He's a great player, we all know that. Having him in the lineup gives you a lot more options, obviously. He drives the pace of play. Extremely hard worker, he plays 200 feet, pace goes up," Berube said of Matthews.

"He's the type of guy you want on the ice as much as you can. At the same time, it's my job to manage that."

Myers was celebrated for the two-year extension he signed Friday, providing the 28-year-old with stability in the organization, getting stick taps from his teammates.

"I'm very happy for him. I thought in camp he earned a job, which is important for a guy like that coming in," Berube said of Myers. "He played extremely well in training camp and here he's got a two-year deal and he's playing for us, and he's playing well. He's physical, he's simple, on the penalty kill and he's got great size and reach."

Here is the Maple Leafs' projected lineup for Saturday's game: 

Matthew Knies-Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner

Max Pacioretty-John Tavares-William Nylander

Bobby McMann-Max Domi-Nick Robertson

Steven Lorentz-David Kampf-Connor Dewar 

Morgan Rielly-Philippe Myers

Jake McCabe-Chris Tanev 

Simon Benoit-Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Joseph Woll (confirmed starter)

Dennis Hildeby

Scenes from morning skate: Matthews looks explosive during practice, Myers celebrated for extension

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