Film Review: What we learned from dissecting all 60 Auston Matthews goals

It's been another off-season of agony for the Toronto Maple Leafs faithful, and another regular season of cautious, hesitant optimism. Now, the blue and white find themselves staring down a tough first-round matchup in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, yet again. With the weight of the world on their shoulders, yet again.

The disappointment of Toronto's string of early exits follows so closely behind all the club does, it's replaced their shadow. But if there’s one reason to think this might just be the year the Maple Leafs finally break through, it’s the gargantuan steps taken by the club’s leading duo, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner — particularly the leaps taken by No. 34, who followed up his Rocket Richard Trophy-winning 2021 by becoming just the third player in the past two decades to pot 60 goals in a season.

The key now is ensuring those goals keep flowing, that the good times keep rolling here in the post-season when it matters most.

And those goals won't come easy. They never do when the playoff grind arrives and the high-flyers get stuck in the mud. But it's not as simple as high scorers seeing their offensive ways nullified come playoff time. It's a matter of styles of play, of certain skill-sets thriving when the game gets tighter, and others drying up as the time and space out on the ice does too.

The question for Toronto, then, is where exactly Matthews’ game falls on that spectrum, and how they can continue to put him in positions to do his thing when the stakes are at their highest.

To get a better sense of how Matthews can keep scoring past Game 82, we have to first understand how exactly he piled up those 60 goals. So, with the playoffs looming, we went back and reviewed film on every single goal the Maple Leafs centreman scored in 2021-22, cataloguing each play, and stepping back to see what patterns emerged.

Here’s what we learned.

The biggest misconception about Matthews from those who don’t watch him regularly might be that the majority of his goals look like the ones that comprise his highlight reel — the curl-and-drag wristers, those fluid power-play markers where he catches the puck and flings it on net in one motion, the game-breaking one-timers that end sequences with authority. In truth, that’s only half the story.

The key that unlocked that 60-goal door for No. 34 this season was, of course, versatility. He piled up a hefty number of goals that few others in the league could score, goals that relied on his all-world release, but he added just as many that relied on an entirely different aspect of his skill-set. Goals that leaned on his positional awareness, on his ability to get lost in coverage, floating into open pockets at just the right moment, or hanging back and rushing into a scramble to tuck in greasy rebounds.

That latter collection, the goals he scored right in around the netfront, accounted for nearly half of Matthews’ 60-spot — shovelling in garbage goals, using his hands to deceive netminders in tight, redirecting hard passes through the crease up into the twine. On the other hand, only six of his 60 came from one-timers, only three from those signature curl-and-drag wristers, only two off those catch-and-shoot tallies.

It was the variety that let him loose, the unpredictability of the method by which he'd burn teams. And it wasn't only how he was scoring but where he was scoring from. Sixteen of his 60 came from the left side of the offensive zone, eight came from the right side, six came down the middle of the zone around the slot, and 26 came in tight, within a foot or two of the netfront (four empty-netters were dotted among the pile, too).

Putting it all together — how he was scoring, where he was scoring from, and how varied the approach was goal-to-goal — the dominance makes more sense. Just look at the first 10 goals Matthews scored this season: 

He kicks things off with a wraparound for Goal No. 1. Goal No. 2 comes on a power-play catch-and-shoot from the left faceoff dot. Nos. 3 and 4 are back at the netfront, stuffing in rebounds. No. 5 comes as a power-play one-timer from the top of the right faceoff circle, No. 6 on a wrister that punctuates him steaming into the zone down the right wing. No. 7 is back on the left side, another man-advantage catch-and-shoot, and Nos. 8, 9 and 10 are back at the netfront — roofing a loose puck off his backhand, shovelling in another rebound, and deflecting a point shot out of the air.

Tough to figure out how exactly to slow down an opponent when he’s coming at you from every direction, burning you every which way. And that variety in approach only continues the further you delve into Matthews’ 2021-22 collection. Let’s take a closer look.

NETFRONT NUISANCE

If we’re pinning down how exactly Matthews earned his 60, we have to start with the damage he did at the netfront.

Matthews potted 26 in tight around the cage — 43 per cent of his total goal sum — and he tallied those 26 goals nine different ways.

Six came from him using his quick hands in tight to deceive the netminder and create enough space to tuck one in — either coming across the netfront and going forehand-backhand to sweep the puck across the crease (Goal Nos. 34, 42, and 59), doing the opposite and sweeping the puck backhand-to-forehand (Goal Nos. 44 and 56), or via that unique sequence against Colorado, which saw him planted at the netfront facing away from the tender, then spinning around, handling the puck briefly, and whipping it top shelf (Goal No. 11).

Five came from Matthews hovering around the netfront and cleaning up rebounds, either taking a shot and stuffing in his own rebound (Goal Nos. 3 and 4) or being in position to capitalize on someone else’s attempt (Goal Nos. 9, 18 and 57).

Four others came from Matthews getting lost in coverage close to the cage, his blade on the ice, as a teammate threw a hard pass through the crease for him to redirect into the twine (Goal Nos. 14, 36, 37, and 53).

Three saw Matthews pick up a puck floating in a pocket of space near the net — getting there either from a pass across the crease (Goal No. 16), popping out of a moment of chaos in front (Goal No. 8), or ricocheting off a skate before it made it to the cage (Goal No. 21) — and the Leafs centreman pouncing to backhand it top shelf.

Twice he ended a scramble in front by rushing the cage and shovelling the puck in the net (Goal Nos. 30 and 49). Twice he tallied on a wraparound — once on the forehand to the netminder’s left (Goal No. 1), once on the backhand to the netminder’s right (Goal No. 40). Twice he deflected point shots out of the air (Goal Nos. 10 and 27). One came off a tap-in from a feed through the crease (Goal No. 23), and one came via Matthews carrying it right to the cage, outwaiting the tender, and tucking it home (Goal No. 12).

He scored 16 of his 60 goals (27 per cent) from the left side of the zone, and once again, he put his versatility on display, collecting them seven different ways.

Four of those 16 saw Matthews use his feet, carrying the puck up ice and either beating a defender (Goal Nos. 13 and 35) or finding a lane straight to the cage (Goal Nos. 17 and 58) and unleashing his lethal wrister.

Three came off that tried and true curl-and-drag wrist shot Matthews has become known for (Goal Nos. 24, 51 and 52) while another three came from monster one-timers (Goal Nos. 25, 39 and 47). He tallied three times from the left side on the power play, all three coming off cross-ice feeds through the slot which Matthews collected before either catching and shooting it in one motion (Goal Nos. 2 and 7), or waiting a beat and scoring on a snap shot (Goal No. 41).

Two others came off snap shots from the left side, with Matthews finding pockets of space, receiving a pass and getting a quick snapper off before the opposition could properly react (Goal Nos. 22 and 38), while he added one more from this side of the zone by putting away a juicy rebound that floated out away from the cage down by the goal line (Goal No. 46).

Matthews’ eight tallies from the right side (13 per cent of his total sum) were collected six different ways.

A pair came off one-timers (Goal Nos. 5 and 55), another two off Matthews floating in on the right side and potting a puck let loose by a scramble at the netfront (Goal Nos. 19 and 32).

Four others came either from Matthews carrying the puck up ice and wiring one (Goal No. 6), him taking that power-play cross-ice feed on the opposite side it usually comes and putting it on net (Goal No. 15), him taking a pass near the right wall, drifting in and unleashing a wrister (Goal No. 26), or him steaming in down the right wing, taking a cross-ice feed and scoring off a snap shot (Goal No. 45).

In the middle of the zone, higher up away from the netfront, the Maple Leafs pivot added six more (10 per cent of his end-of-year total), doing so four different ways. Three of those saw him receive a pass high in the slot and wire one (Goal Nos. 29, 31 and 54), two came from Matthews carrying the puck into that pocket himself and sniping (Goal Nos. 20 and 60), and one came off a breakaway — which was, in fact, the centreman’s only breakaway goal of the year (Goal No. 33).

Beyond the fact that he bagged goals every which way, he benefitted from another layer of unpredictability in terms of where in the zone the goals came from.

On that left side, two came low in the offensive zone, one came further up near the bottom of the left faceoff circle, four came along the middle inside edge of that faceoff circle, six came right around the left faceoff dot, a pair came from the top of the circle, and one came high up in the zone, essentially at the left point. 

The spread is much the same on the right: three from the bottom of the right faceoff circle, one from the inside edge of the circle, three from right on that faceoff dot, and one from the top of the circle.

And then there were the six that came high up in the zone in the middle of the ice, and, of course, the 26 dotted all along that area right around the netfront.

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE

Taking a step back and looking at all those methods together, it's clear why Matthews has taken the crown as the game’s most lethal goal-scorer — it's not simply because of that otherworldly release, but because he’s turned that signature weapon into simply one tool among many. 

When it came to creating scoring opportunities for himself, he tallied eight goals on plays where he relied on his quick hands to deceive, creating his own space to put the puck in the net. He scored seven goals off plays that saw him beat at least one opposing player en route to the net, and six more on plays that saw him carry the puck into an open lane and simply unleash.

He was just as adept at finishing off scoring plays, potting six times off one-timers, four times from redirecting hard passes on the ice up into the cage, three times off of receiving a pass and letting loose his curl-and-drag wrister, twice off catching and shooting the puck in one fluid motion, and twice off deflections out of the air.

But he didn’t rely simply on those all-world plays. He put away seven goals by cleaning up rebounds around the netfront, and topped things off with four empty-netters — two of those fired in from his own zone.

Past the how and the where, it was also when those goals came from those varied areas — another key facet of his unpredictability. We mentioned the variety seen in his first 10 goals of the season at the top of this piece. Here’s how the rest of his goals were spread out — we've divided them into 10-goal segments, going down 1 to 10 from top to bottom, indicating where in the zone the goals came from.

A quick glance shows Matthews was striking with fairly equal frequency from either side of the zone all year, while constantly returning to his bread and butter, the netfront.

Also key in understanding how Matthews pieced together his 60 is understanding who exactly was out there with him, and how they were contributing.

In reviewing each of those 60 goals, we noted which players directly contributed to the scoring plays that resulted in a goal from Matthews — that went past just registering an assist. It also meant, say, throwing the body behind the net to create a turnover that put the puck on No. 34's stick, or being part of a give-and-go to enter the zone, which sprung a Matthews rush to the net.

Widening the lens out a bit past assist-getters to those who directly, meaningfully contributed to Matthews’ scoring plays in all possible ways, here’s how the list of his most important running mates broke down:

Unsurprisingly, Mitch Marner led the way, directly factoring in on 23 of those goals (38 per cent). Linemate Michael Bunting was second, factoring in on 19 of them (32 per cent) — more impressive than it first seems, considering it took some time this season for the coaching staff to move Bunting onto that top line.

Morgan Rielly and John Tavares were next up, factoring in on 13 and nine of Matthews’ goals, respectively (22 and 15 per cent), while William Nylander factored in on eight (13 per cent). No other Maple Leafs player contributed to more than five of No. 34’s goals.

PLAYOFF POTENTIAL

What does that mean for the Maple Leafs as they head towards Game 1? A few things:

First, it tells us what the club needs to do to get Matthews on the board — and, more specifically, what they don't have to do. It feels like we’ve seen plenty a skilled team tumble out of the post-season because of an inability to adapt their game to their opponent, or simply because of an inability to get goals in different ways.

The Maple Leafs are known for their high-octane offence, for their speed, their silky smooth passes, setting up gorgeous highlight-reel goals. There’s a fair chance that all comes up against a brick wall in Round 1, where the team on the other side will try to simply run through them. Which is fine, because Matthews has shown he doesn't need to rely on getting a cross-ice feed to set up a one-timer, or finding enough space to bee-line to the net and beat the netminder one-on-one.

He can do that if the opportunity presents itself, but if all else fails, he’s proven he's elite at cleaning up at the netfront. If every other avenue is shut down, just throw pucks on the cage, cause havoc in the crease, and there’s a boatload of evidence suggesting No. 34 will pick his moment and end the play with fist-bumps at the bench.

Watching all these goals back also made clear one thing about the Leafs' personnel: they need Michael Bunting back in the lineup.

Aside from Mitch Marner, no other Maple Leaf played a bigger role in spurring Matthews’ offensive success than the team's breakout rookie. While that impact sometimes took the form of a well-placed pass to Matthews' blade, here’s what the majority of our notes on how he factored in looked like:

"Bunting forces a turnover by the opposing D with a hard forecheck, and the puck ends up on Matthews’ stick. "

"Bunting deflects a shot on goal, creating a rebound that Matthews buries."

"Bunting fights along the wall to win the puck, it ends up on the stick of a teammate who sets up Matthews for the goal."

That isn't to say the top line will falter if Bunting's injury keeps him out. But it means if he isn’t ready to go in Game 1, it seems the best bet for a replacement isn’t necessarily another slick playmaker who can set up Matthews in Marner-esque fashion — rather, it’s someone who can go to the dirty areas and win battles, who can force the turnover that puts the puck where Toronto wants it.

Above all else, what watching all these goals back tells us is that Matthews should have everything he needs to keep the goals rolling when the grind of Game 1 closes in. If he finds space to operate, he can make the most of it — in any part of the zone, with a quick shot or a rush to the cage or myriad other approaches. If he doesn't find that space, he can simplify, go to the net, and continue feasting there. And if the Maple Leafs' opponents do manage to suffocate No. 34 with defensive coverage, his 46 helpers this season suggest he has the vision to exploit the open space that must be available around one of his teammates.

Whether it all shakes out quite so neatly remains to be seen. But take stock of everything Matthews has pieced together over these past 82 games, and all signs point to No. 34 not going away quietly when these playoffs are all said and done.