Auston Matthews may just be 24 but he is already making a strong case to being one of the best American-born hockey players of all time. Matthews already has done something no American player has done before.
Auston Matthews scored his 60th goal of the season on Tuesday against the Detroit Red Wings, something that has only happened three times in the salary cap era.
Matthews joins active players Steven Stamkos and Alex Ovechkin in seasons with 60 goals. Later this spring he will be hoping to join another list that those two are on – the Stanley Cup.
Matthews and the Maple Leafs have had a really strong season, one where Matthews definitely has a case to win a lot of hardware thanks to being the MVP of his team all season long.
Take a look at the two goals Matthews scored on Tuesday to hit the 60 goal mark:
The Leafs have just one more game to go before the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They end their regular season with a game against the Boston Bruins, a game I am sure they want to win just to get rid of any chance that the Leafs will have to face off against Boston in round one.
It is weird to look at a playoff picture and hope for a matchup with the two-time defending champs, but when you look at the past history Boston and Toronto have had in round one that is the lesser of two evils.
Auston Matthews has had a terrific season scoring a lot of goals and helping to put the Maple Leafs where they are today in the standings, but as we all know what matters most is what happens next.
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The stats reset on Monday when the Stanley Cup playoffs start and that can be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it. Hopefully for Toronto this postseason they can pick up on their successes from the regular season and get out of the first round.