Auston Matthews Reveals his Mindset amidst recent cold streak
PUBLICATION
Tom Banks
March 12, 2024 (8:39 PM)
Auston Matthews has been the NHL's best goal scorer for a number of seasons now, but even in the best year of his career, he's going through a major cold streak.
Auston Matthews reveals his mindset while on a goal scoring drought
If the NHL season ended today, AM34 would finish with 54 goals, which for most players is a career year, but after his hot start to the year, the Maple Leafs star is targeting history.
At one point, he was on pace for over 80 goals on the year, and while he remains on pace for 69, he's got just one goal in his past five games, and he recently opened up on those recent struggles.
"I mean, stuff like that happens sometimes," he said. "The puck's not just going to go in all the time. I thought there were some good things. Obviously, I want to produce. I want to help the team and do my part."
When targeting over 80 goals a season, that means a player needs to score practically every single game, and while Matthews did that earlier in the year, things just haven't gone his way as of late.
Sheldon Keefe was asked about his struggles to put the puck in the net in recent times, and his attitude was very similar to Matthews, with very few concerns about his play as of late.
"He had at least two, maybe three, but certainly two, fairly clean chances where he was basically in alone on the goalie in Boston and those didn't fall for him," Matthews said. "Obviously, things have fallen a lot for him this season and they will again. Somewhat of a historic type of pace that he was on is historic for a reason, because it's difficult to maintain."
Even with those recent struggles, Matthews is on pace for a career year, and potentially the best mark in the NHL since prime Alexander Ovechkin, so don't expect this goal scoring drought to last too long.
As Read on Hockey Feed - Auston Matthews sounds off on his sudden cold streak
| POLL |
Will Auston Matthews tally 70 goals in 2023-24? |
| Yes | 533 | 46.9 % |
| No | 604 | 53.1 % |
| List of polls |
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