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Toronto Maple Leafs: A Wild Stat About Auston Matthews

By Mitchell Hartman

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 12: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs scores at 3:52 of the first period against Igor Shesterkin #31 of the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on December 12, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 12: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs scores at 3:52 of the first period against Igor Shesterkin #31 of the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on December 12, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews is chasing his 3rd Rocket Richard trophy in the last 4 years, and he looks like the current frontrunner.

Not only is the Toronto Maple Leafs best player tied for the most goals, with 23, he also leads in goals per game by a good amount.

His 0.85 goals per game not only tops in the NHL but also gives him a good cushion over 2nd place Brock Boeser, who sits at 0.73.

Matthews also leads the NHL in goals per 60 minutes of ice time, with 2.37. 

The Toronto Maple Leafs are sitting in a good spot right now, currently sitting in 5th-place in terms of points percentage, much to the thanks of Matthews and his strong play recently.

However, there is a wild stat that Matthews has this season.

Toronto Maple Leafs: A Wild Stat About Auston Matthews

As of December 15th (when this was written), Auston Matthews has a total of 23 goals in 27 games and a whopping 19 of them have come in games where he’s scored 2 goals or more. Meaning more than 80% (or 4/5) of his total goals are scored in 2+ goal games. All stats via (nhl.com, except where linked).

He just loves scoring in bunches this year.

If we dive deeper, Matthews only has 4 games all year where he’s scored just 1 time, or just under 15% (or 4/27). However, on the opposite side of this, Matthews has a whopping 8 games this season with 2+ goals, good for  over 26% (or around 1/4) of his games played.

Now, some of you may be wondering who has the most 2+ goal games in a single NHL season, and that crazy record belongs to none other than Brett Hull, who had 26 games with 2 or more goals during the 1990-91 NHL year.

There is a chance Matthews matches or even surpasses this record, but he’ll have to pick up his pace.

One important thing to remember is Hull earned his 26 games with 2+ goals in just 80 games due to the NHL not playing full 82-game seasons, meaning Hull scored 2 or more goals in 32.5% of his games played that year.

Like I said before, there is a chance Matthews beats this crazy record, but it is unlikely unless he starts piling up the hattricks like he did earlier on in the season. Keep in mind, it was way easier to score goals in 1991 than it is today.

Next. The Toronto Maple Leafs Should Try to Make the Biggest Trade in NHL History. dark

Regardless, it is still an interesting stat to point out, especially due to his play recently, where he has 9 goals in his last 6 games, not counting last night’s game against Pittsburgh.

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