Matthews focused on "big picture" for Leafs despite historic start
Surprise, surprise: Auston Matthews has been a one-man show to start the season for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Through two games to kick off the 2023-24 campaign, Matthews has lit up both the Montreal Canadiens and Minnesota Wild for back-to-back hat tricks to total six goals on just 13 shots through 44:10 of ice time so far.
The back-to-back three-goal games to open a season is a start seen just once in the last 100 years — by Alex Ovechkin back in 2017-18 — and five times in NHL history, three of which were in the league’s inaugural 1917-18 campaign.
Per @PR_NHL: Auston Matthews is one of only five players in NHL history to record a hat trick in each of their first two games to start the season, joining Alex Ovechkin (2017-18), Cy Denneny (1917-18), Joe Malone (1917-18) and Reg Noble (1917-18).
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) October 15, 2023
“It’s been fun. You don’t expect back-to-back hat tricks, of course, but I have gotten somewhat comfortable and used to Auston having big nights and making a big impact. To do so on back-to-back nights to start a season is terrific. He looks like he is having lots of fun,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said on Saturday.
If Matthews is scoring plenty of goals for the Leafs, they’ll probably win plenty of games.
Since coming into the league in 2016-17, Matthews’ 305 goals are tops in the NHL, ahead of Alex Ovechkin’s 297 and 288 and 287 from Edmonton’s duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, respectively.
It’s not a direct correlation, but it’s no surprise that a team backed by Matthews has also finished third in the NHL in regular season wins over that span (312), trailing only divisional rivals Tampa Bay (335) and Boston (338).
Matthews has won plenty of individual accolades: a pair of Rocket Richard trophies, the 2021-22 Hart Trophy as league MVP, and the 2016-17 Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. But Keefe and Matthews know that regular season success is only a tiny part of the team’s ultimate goal to win a Stanley Cup.
“It’s always nice, it’s what you hope for at the start of the year. It’s a grind of a season, so there’s going to be bumps and bruises. But [I’m] just trying to stay as healthy as possible… and just build day after day and game after game,” Matthews said postgame on Saturday.
During Matthews’ tenure in Toronto, the team’s strong regular seasons haven’t translated into much playoff success, winning one postseason round in seven appearances in his first seven years in the league.
“Auston is focused on the big picture here. He is looking to really drive our team. He knows his job is to score, but I really don’t think he cares how many goals he gets or what the number is in the end. It is about how many wins we have, how good our team is, what we are building towards, and how he can lead us there,” Keefe added.
Matthews, the first overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, will get a shot to face off against the 2023 No. 1 pick on Monday for the first time in his career. Eighteen-year-old phenom Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks are in Toronto for their only visit of the season tomorrow night, with puck drop set for 7 pm ET.
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