‘Young Mario’ invents new ways to score
Leafs’ Matthews already superstar
WASHINGTON — Auston Matthews is drawing comparisons to Mario Lemieux and getting noticed by Bryce Harper amid another hot start to his second National Hockey League season.
Last season’s Calder Trophy winner as rookie of the year, Matthews went into training camp seeking to be more assertive on the ice.
That has translated to five goals and three assists in his first five games and the kind of improved allaround play that makes the face of the Toronto Maple Leafs a superstar already at age 20.
“He’s got a skillset that ranges from just about everything,” Maple Leafs centre Nazem Kadri said Tuesday. “The ceiling’s the limit for Matts, and he knows he can be a great player and he already is. It’s crazy to think he’s (still) at such a young age.”
Even though Matthews remains in the shadow of Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby on hockey’s pantheon of existing top players, he already has filled up the highlight reel thanks to some tweaks and adjustments. The Scottsdale native was the first rookie to score 40 goals since Alex Ovechkin in 2005-06 and is conscious of the pressure to keep up that pace.
“You’re always reinventing yourself,” he said.
“The league’s always adjusting and you’ve got to adjust right back to it.”
The league hasn’t adjusted yet. Matthews showed that by scoring goals so many different ways this season.
Matthews scored an overtime winner against Chicago by taking the puck off a carom off the back of Patrick Kane’s right skate and going down the ice. Against Montreal, he scored one goal by flipping the puck past a Canadiens defender and knocking it down at full speed before firing through a screen. And then on another rush by shooting short side on 2015 Vezina Trophy winning goaltender Carey Price.
Matthews has only played 87 regular-season and six playoff games and yet has admirers far and wide.
Harper wore a brand new blue No. 34 Matthews jersey out of the Washington Nationals’ clubhouse after their season-ending Game 5 loss to the Chicago Cubs last week. Matthews said he doesn’t know Harper, who’s from Las Vegas, but called the honour “awesome.”
Capitals coach Barry Trotz has been watching Matthews’ growth and likened him — already — to a Hockey Hall of Famer and one of the best players in history.
“Auston Matthews, I’ve been saying it: He’s a young Mario Lemieux,” Trotz said. “He’s (big), he can skate, he’s ultraskilled, he’s very, very competitive, he makes plays.”
Matthews downplays his own improvements.
“I feel good,” Matthews said. “Just a couple weeks in, so you want to find that consistency individually, with your linemates, with everybody. You just want to continue to get better every day.”