Leafs HC Craig Berube gives his honest review of Auston Matthews' 1st team practice since return from re-aggravating injury

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube provided an update on star center Auston Matthews after he participated in his first team practice since re-aggravating an upper-body injury.

Matthews skated with the team on Monday for the first time since taking a cross-check from Buffalo Sabres defenseman Dennis Gilbert on December 20th.

"It was good to see Auston out there skating with us," Berube said on Monday practice. "That was a good sign. I think everybody is excited about him being out there too. He did a good job in practice today I thought and I think he feels pretty good."

Matthews rotated through the Maple Leafs' top line at practice alongside John Tavares, Mitch Marner and rookie Matthew Knies.

Berube confirmed that despite the positive step, Auston Matthews will not play on Tuesday against the New York Islanders.

"He's been on the ice the last couple of days, so making real good progress, which is great and he's feeling a lot better," Berube added.

Auston Matthews initially suffered the upper-body injury during training camp but was able to play through it. The injury kept him out for a few games in early November before he returned to action. However, the cross-check from Gilbert appears to have re-aggravated the issue.

The 27-year-old has 11 goals and 23 points in 24 games so far this season. Matthews is in the first year of a 4-year, $53 million contract extension he signed with Toronto last summer.

Craig Berube on facing Islanders without Auston Matthews

Craig Berube also discussed facing the Islanders and some of the challenges he sees for his team against their opponent. Berube is concerned about defensive lapses off the rush when the play gets turned back, saying there have been breakdowns and lax coverage that the team needs to improve.

“We have to be better and find ways to keep the puck out of our net. Puck management, quicker re-loads by our forwards, our F1 and F2 getting beat up the ice by their defence, (creating) gaps. You turn over a puck in the high ice and (other) teams are coming.”

Though he wasn't with the Leafs in the past, Berube said he looked into it and sees a tendency to be impatient at times rather than taking what the defense gives them. He pointed to their last game against the Islanders, where they opened up too much and got burned.