Auston Matthews downplays personal milestone, reaffirms what this season's goal is for he and his team
With a goal and an assist last night, Auston Matthews is now just 1 point away from 500 in his career. Quite the accomplishment for any player in the league, but something Matthews will accomplish in less than 450 games. Over his 444 games so far, we have seen Matthews quickly become one of the best two-way centermen in the game. He takes pride in doing the little things to help the Leafs even when he isn't putting up points.
Following last night's throttling of the Colorado Avalanche to cap off a 3-game road trip, in which the Leafs went 2-1-0, Matthews spoke with the media, where he downplayed his major career milestone. While I'm sure he's thrilled to be hitting the mark in close proximity with teammate and close friend Mitch Marner, Matthews has bigger things in mind than personal accolades.
"I've been fortunate to play on really good teams year after year. It's not as much of an individual accomplishment as it is a team accomplishment. Myself and Mitchy (497) are closing in on that, but we're working toward something bigger," said Matthews when asked about the upcoming milestone.
Matthews has once again reiterated that as nice as individual awards are, he doesn't care much for them. All he wants to do is win, something the Leafs will look to do come April when they try to make it out of the first round for the first time in the Matthews era. But the goal is not to make it out of the first round - the goal is to take home hockey's greatest prize, the Stanley Cup.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 1 | 355 ANSWERS Auston Matthews downplays personal milestone, reaffirms what this season's goal is for he and his team Will Matthews and the Leafs make it past the first round in 2022-23? | ||
| Yes | 299 | 84.2 % |
| No | 56 | 15.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
