Auston Matthews now has 18 goals in his first 35 games. You’ve probably seen this little tidbit going around:
Per @EliasSports: Auston Matthews is first @MapleLeafs player in modern era (since 1943-44) to score 18 goals in first 35 career NHL games. pic.twitter.com/PsOfys2mmO
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 30, 2016
There’s something else to Matthews’ goals too, though. Namely: he’s the one opening the scoring. Via the Elias Sports Bureau:
Matthews has scored 18 goals for the Leafs and nine of them have been the first goal of a game, and each of his last five goals have given Toronto a 1–0 lead. Matthews’ nine first goals are the most by an NHL player this season (Sidney Crosby is second with eight) and a single-season record for a Maple Leafs rookie.
Any time you can beat Crosby in a goal-scoring stat, especially this season...
So that’s half of Matthews’ goals coming in order to open the game. That’s over a quarter of the Leafs’ games so far this season Matthews has opened the scoring for them. They haven’t won all of them - this latest edition against the Tampa Bay Lightning marked their fifth win when Matthews scores first - but they’re starting to win them a little more often now.
Either way, though: it’s not like you’re going to say no to having your rookie score the first goal of the game. Over and over again, more than anyone else in the NHL. It’s a neat little matter of timing.