“When you see Auston Matthews breaking down the ice you try to get him the puck.”
Those were the immortal words of Jake Gardiner after picking up one of the easiest assists of his career on Sunday night. Sure, the Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman displayed awareness by peeking at the neutral zone before ringing the puck 125 feet along the boards, but Matthews took care of everything else from there.
It was the 28th goal of his splendid rookie season – tying him with Winnipeg Jets winger Patrik Laine, who visits the Air Canada Centre on Tuesday.
The teenagers are approaching exclusive company. Each has a chance to join Alex Ovechkin as the only NHL rookies to hit 40 goals since 2005.
Matthews has already filled a highlight reel just 58 games into his career, including that gorgeous effort against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Here’s a look back at his top-five scoring moments so far:
Nov. 23 at New Jersey
OK, this is probably in the running for the ugliest goal he’s scored in the NHL.
But it carried significance for Matthews because it ended a personal 13-game drought, which is why it is one of the handful he celebrated with exuberance.
Overall, he has 22 goals in 39 games since – second only to Montreal Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty (24) during that time.
The grinder-worthy goal against Cory Schneider was also one of 10 where he’s opened the scoring in a game, the most by any NHL player this season.
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Jan. 17 vs. Buffalo
This is a patented Matthews snipe, scored from a high-danger area through traffic with a fantastic shot.
There are six or seven others that fall in this genre and could have been highlighted instead. What made this particular goal stand out is how deftly Matthews was able to cradle the puck and release it, and how he used his back foot for leverage to cleanly beat Robin Lehner – a man who boasts one of the top save percentages in the NHL this season.
As Sportsnet play-by-play man Paul Romanuk rightly put it: “Bullseye.”
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Oct. 12 at Ottawa
Really, you could have picked each of the goals Matthews scored on opening night.
Not featured here are his first NHL goal, his first NHL hat-trick goal and the moment he became the first player in league history to have a four-goal debut.
Looking at it from a pure skill standpoint, this was the most impressive of the four pucks he put past Craig Anderson. Four different opponents had a chance to keep this play from developing and it was two-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson he fooled at the end by tapping him on the left side before darting to the right and stealing the puck.
Karlsson even brought the sequence up with Matthews when they were seated beside each other in the dressing room at the NHL all-star game in Los Angeles last month.
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Jan. 1 vs. Detroit
Emotionally, this might be the biggest goal of the team’s season to date.
Playing in front of a packed house at BMO Field on New Year’s Day, the Leafs frittered away a 4-1, third-period lead in the Centennial Classic. That included a tying goal scored against the Matthews line just before the buzzer.
The 19-year-old quickly atoned for that in overtime by slipping a backhand past Red Wings rookie goaltender Jared Coreau for his second goal of the afternoon.
The added cherry here was that it was also his 20th of the season, earning Matthews his first $212,500 entry-level bonus.
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Feb. 19 at Carolina
Pity Phil di Giuseppe.
The Hurricanes forward did everything he could to impede Matthews on this sequence, but the strength of the rookie won out. This brought back memories of goals scored by Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby while being hauled to the ice during their first NHL seasons.
For Matthews, it was his 24th goal at even strength – leaving him second behind New York Rangers speedster Michael Grabner (25) in that category.
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Honourble mention: Jan. 3 at Washington
Simply unfair.
Leo Komarov playfully consoled Brooks Orpik by patting him on the shoulder afterwards and the veteran Washington Capitals defenceman didn’t much appreciate it.
As much attention as Matthews gets for putting the puck in the net, he’s comfortable in the role of playmaker, too.
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