Quite possibly the most unbelievable Auston Matthews goal yet pic.twitter.com/r1RES13g4i
— Jeff Veillette (@JeffVeillette) February 20, 2017
1. v. Carolina Hurricanes
I’m really trying not to be biased with this, I actually think it deserves to be listed where it is. The reason why I could be biased in the first place is because I was at this game, sitting just two rows up behind the Leafs bench.
This goal is just pure filth. It’s somewhat similar to the goal that Alex Ovechkin scored early on in his career.
Matthews is seen driving to the net as he gets pushed forward by Phillip Di Giuseppe. He twists and turns his body while still keeping the puck on his backhand as he’s literally falling over.
Somehow, he manages to slip the puck past Cam Ward for what should be the best goal of the season, or at least is so far.
Bonus
Auston Matthews with an assist of the year candidate... pic.twitter.com/RezPdemJs5 gif via @JeffVeillette
— Tyler Durden (@mustard_seeds) January 5, 2017
I wish that Matthews was the one to score this goal off of his own setup, but that’s literally impossible. He did 99.9% of the work, the only .1% being the fact that he didn’t put the puck in the back of the net and Leo Komarov did.
He protects the puck along the boards (one of the best in the game at doing that) and skates behind the net, only to do a complete spin followed by feeding it to Komarov for the dirtiest dish in your Mothers kitchen sink. He’s a special player, one the Leafs community should be happy to have around for his entire NHL career.