NHL Rink Wrap: Matthews powers Maple Leafs, Bruins pass Lightning

Well, if you griped about Auston Matthews reaching 50 goals on an empty-netter,* he delivered his next goals in the satisfying form of an empathic hat trick.

Despite being limited to 64 games compared to 70 for Leon Draisaitl, Auston Matthews really strengthened his lead in the Maurice Richard Trophy race. While Draisaitl reached 50 goals on Sunday, Matthews pushed his season total to 54, and also collected an assist during the NHL action on Monday.

Matthews has a ways to go to get to 100 points, as he’s now at 92 (54G + 38A). It’s all the more astounding when you factor in Matthews’ near-Selke-level all-around play, including remarkable discipline. (Through 398 career regular-season games, Matthews has only generated 70 penalty minutes.)

Later on in this post, we’ll focus more broadly on Matthews’ Maple Leafs being too much for the Lightning to handle. First, let’s dig through a few more tidbits about Auston Matthews at 54 goals:

And just like that, Auston Matthews has the most goals in a season by any NHL player in a decade (Steven Stamkos: 60 in 2011-12).@AM34 is now on pace for 65 goals in 2021-22 — will he get there?#NHLStats: https://t.co/70OjHtlwzW pic.twitter.com/KudQmHULtD

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 5, 2022

At the moment, Auston Matthews is on a six-game goal streak, and a 13-game point streak. Just illustrious, possibly Hart Trophy-worthy stuff.

Mitch Marner isn’t far behind Matthews. He scored a goal and two assist during that Maple Leafs win over the Lightning during the NHL games on Monday. Overall, Marner has produced 84 points in 60 games.

Watch that Auston Matthews hat trick:

Jake DeBrusk scored two goals for the Bruins, including the OT-winner vs. the Blue Jackets:

Jake called game.