The Toronto Maple Leafs will continue to play without Auston Matthews as the first-year captain remains sidelined with an upper-body injury, head coach Craig Berube confirmed to David Alter of The Hockey News.

Matthews's outlook has been up in the air ever since he re-aggravated an upper-body injury during a 6-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 20. Head coach Craig Berube later revealed that the 27-year-old sharpshooter would be sidelined until after the holidays, leaving optimists hoping for a return as early as tonight.

It was clear before Craig Berube revealed Matthews was still “fighting through” something that not all was right with the Leafs captain.

Toronto Maple Leafs superstar centre Auston Matthews has missed the last two games due to a reaggravation of the undisclosed injury that has been plaguing him since training camp and kept him out of nine matches as recently as last month.

The Toronto Maple Leafs host the Winnipeg Jets on Monday afternoon in their final game before the holiday break. While Toronto is near the top of the Atlantic Division, they are struggling to stay healthy.