Auston Matthews opened up on his injury after being placed on IR

BarDown Staff

Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images

Monday morning, the Leafs were dealt a big blow as the team announced Auston Matthews would miss a minimum of 4 weeks with a shoulder injury he suffered in Toronto's most recent win against Winnipeg.

Matthews got off to a torrid start this season with 16 points in 11 games, but now the Leafs have a tough task in front of them, winning without him. Shortly after the team announced the injury, Matthews spoke to the media for the first time since the injury occurred.

Auston Matthews says he won’t need surgery on his hurt shoulder. Similar in terms of what to him last season in separating his right shoulder (except this injury was to his left)
— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) October 29, 2018

Auston Matthews on his injury: "It's frustrating. There’s not much you can do. It sucks. It’s part of the game. I’m going to work as hard as I can to get back as soon as possible and feeling back to myself."
— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) October 29, 2018

Matthews missed 20 games last season due to injury, so it must be devastating for him to get off to start that he did and now have to deal with an injury all over again.

As Mike Babcock explained, though, it's how Matthews handles this mentally that's going to be the biggest challenge.

Babcock on Matthews' absence: "Your mental health is the most important thing in any walk of life. So when things don’t go the way you want and it affects you mentally, how are you going to handle that? We talked about that this morning. Be around the group and do what you do"
— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) October 29, 2018

(H/T: Kristen Shilton)