Nineteen-year-old Auston Matthews, left, has emerged from a month-long drought to rattle off eight goals in his last 10 games, scoring at a fevered pace.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
Auston Matthews couldn't score for almost a month.
For 13 games, from late October to late November, the Toronto Maple Leafs rookie fired 45 shots on goal and none found the back of the net. The 19-year-old has ripped off eight goals in 10 games since then, including his team-leading 14th against the Arizona Coyotes, his favourite club as a kid growing up in Scottsdale, Ariz.
"It's always fun to score goals," Matthews said after the 3-2 shootout defeat Thursday night, the fourth-straight loss on home ice for the Leafs. "It's what I like to do."
Peter Holland scored the shootout winner for the Coyotes in his first game since being traded by the Maple Leafs last week.
Matthews is on pace for 40 goals this season, which would eclipse Wendel Clark's rookie record of 34 set during the 1985-86 season. He's also producing at a 65-point pace, which would threaten Peter Ihnacak's record of 66 points in a rookie season. Ihnacak was 25-years-old at the time.
What Matthews is doing is more special than both given the significant decrease in scoring today compared with the wide-open game of the 1980s.
"He's just got a knack for the net," teammate Nazem Kadri said. "He's got that offensive instinct and obviously he can cash in on the power play too which is basically how those high-production players get such high production. He's definitely got a knack for the net."
Only three of Matthews's goals have actually come with the man advantage, including the one on Thursday night. He got the puck at the top of the right faceoff circle and just rifled it past Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith. The shot was fired with such speed that on-ice officials weren't actually sure whether it found the back of the net.
Matthews has scored 11 of his goals at even-strength, a mark that ties him for fifth in the NHL and puts him first among rookies. Only Winnipeg's Patrik Laine has scored more among first-year players than Matthews. Laine, a teenager producing equally inspiring numbers for the Jets, has 17 goals and 25 points to 14 goals and 23 points for Matthews.
Asked if he expected to produce this much right away, Matthews said: "I put a lot of expectations for myself. I feel I'm capable of doing a lot out there."
Kadri believes Matthews's big six-foot-three, 216-pound frame has helped him step in right away and produce. He's physically ready to combat NHL talent that way and perhaps better seasoned than most first-year players following a campaign with men in the Swiss League.
The Leafs are also ensuring that Matthews gets all kinds of offensive opportunities alongside fellow rookies William Nylander and Zach Hyman. He ranks first on Toronto in offensive-zone start percentage (63 per cent). More opportunities to start in the offensive zone means more chances to score and indeed Matthews's line has been the club's most productive and dangerous all season long.
"He's getting the opportunity," Kadri said, crediting Leafs coach Mike Babcock. "He's getting those minutes to be able to succeed."
"I think every game myself, Hyman, Willie, continue to gel more and more," Matthews said. "We're finding each other more and more out there and really have a sense of where each other is at pretty much all the time."
Matthews nearly had his second of the game Thursday on a remarkable chance in overtime. Nylander floated him a pass as he was charging hard to the net and the American centre batting it out of mid-air. The attempt was ultimately denied by Smith.
Matthews finished with four shots and six attempts in 19 minutes, 52 seconds.
He's now scored at least once in seven of the past 10 games, potting a pair on Nov. 23, against New Jersey to break the 13-game drought.
Few teenagers come into the league and score quite this easily.
The last to produce at this pace at a similar age was Sidney Crosby, who tallied 39 goals as an 18-year-old rookie for Pittsburgh. Eric Lindros scored 41 goals in 61 games at the age of 19 in his first year for the Philadelphia Flyers, Jeff Skinner also managing 31 goals at 18-years-old for the Hurricanes.
"Auston's a heck of a player," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "He's going to do well for a long time."