How Auston Matthews Put Together His Best Year Yet in Toronto

His 44 assists are also a career high, as are his marks in shots, takeaways and even face-off win percentage. He leads the league in hat tricks, with four, double anyone else. And all those numbers come despite his sitting out the team’s last two games with a minor injury, resting for the playoffs that begin on May 2. (All numbers through Tuesday night’s games.)

That suite of statistics has made him a favorite to wrest the Hart Memorial Trophy as most valuable player away from Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers.

As with almost any player who significantly increases his goal total, Matthews is shooting somewhat more, 563 times so far, with 330 of them on net. But his shooting percentage this season, 17.6, is right in line with his career numbers, a sign that his workload is increasing organically and not that he has been hogging the puck.

Another reason players’ goal totals suddenly increase is because they are increasingly used on the power play. While Matthews’s power play goal total, 15, is a career high, it is in line with his last two full seasons, when he had 12 in each. (He had 10 last season in 52 games.) His even-strength goals total of 43 so far is eight more than his career best and 10 more than the closest competitor in the league.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/21/sports/auston-matthews-toronto-maple-leafs.html