Report: Matthews status confirmed for tonight

The Toronto Maple Leafs potentially had to deal with a major setback to their lineup tonight as they face the struggling Edmonton Oilers.

Auston Matthews missed practice today with an illness and his status was questionable earlier in the day, but a decision has been made concerning his spot in the lineup.

Matthews missed several games due to injury this month, but the team came through with a string of consecutive victories - so the concern may not have been as serious if he had to miss another game to recover from his illness.

Fortunately, he'll be in the lineup, rendering that point of discussion moot, and bringing the McDavid - Matthews discussion back to the forefront.

McDavid has 30 points in 25 games on a confusingly weak Oilers team, while Matthews has 24 points in 22 games. They're scoring at virtually identical paces, with the difference being that the Leafs are profiting a lot more from it, with a spot among the best teams in the NHL, while the Oilers are clawing their ways out of the league's basement.

Puck drops tonight at 9pm.