Toronto Maple Leafs star captain Auston Matthews has been absolutely on fire as of late, and for his efforts, has been named the NHL's Third Star of the Week.
It has been a while since we've seen some Toronto representation when any site, let alone the NHL itself, looks at the top performers of a week and has someone on this Leafs team named. But after Matthews just tore through a couple teams to finish his week back on top and having broke a historic record, he certainly deserves some recognition.
Nikita Kucherov, Sidney Crosby and Auston Matthews have been named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week ending Jan. 4.
— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) January 5, 2026
3 Stars of the Week presented by @GEICO#NHLStats: https://t.co/8AIdSLgnD1 pic.twitter.com/xzcfzlQJ1v
In just two games last week, Matthews scored five goals and earned six total points. The Leafs captain was named alongside divisional rival Nikita Kucherov, who scored 10 points in just three games, and all-time great Sidney Crosby, who scored four goals and eight points in four games. That's a trio that feels right at home being heralded as the top talents in the league.
Leafs' Auston Matthews had historic and red-hot week
Most notably though, aside from scoring five outstanding goals, is that Matthews broke Mats Sundin's historic all-time goals record for the Leafs and with 421 career goals wearing the Blue and White, now stands at the very top among Toronto skaters who could put the puck in the back of the net.
Aside from making history, Matthews is re-inserting himself into the top goalscorer conversation. After starting the season terribly and looking like a shell of his former self, Matthews now has 20 goals on the season, which is good for 23rd in the NHL. It's not close to the top -- since Nathan MacKinnon has already scored a mind-blowing 35 goals this season -- but Minnesota Wild winger Matt Boldy is second with just 26. It's not too crazy to think that Matthews can finish top-three by season's end and put himself right where he belongs.
He might not earn a trophy because of it, but it will be very good to see him still in that high-end race when all games have been played.