Chapter 1: A Four-Goal Debut CHAPTER ONE A Four-Goal Debut Auston Matthews carried the puck down the right wing into the Ottawa zone, leading to a mad scramble in front of the Senators net. Matthews chopped at it. William Nylander took a shot that ricocheted to Zach Hyman, who carried the puck behind the net and fed Matthews on the right side of the crease. And in the blink of an eye Matthews shovelled a one-timer past the Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson. Auston Matthews, the can''t-miss rookie, didn''t miss. He had his first NHL goal. It came on his first shot, at 8:21 of the first period of his first NHL game, the first goal by anyone of the 2016-17 season. There may be no greater feeling in hockey than scoring.
For goal scorers--players who make their living as the go-to guys for their teams--it''s the adrenaline rush that drives them. For the fans who watch, seeing their team score, or their favourite player score, is another form of elation, validating all the time spent loving their team and reading about the player in the off-season. For the media covering the game, it''s the story they want to tell: the kid making good, getting that first goal. It had all fallen into place in the first period of the first NHL game Auston Matthews played. There would be no waiting. An easy, feel-good story to tell for Leaf fans all too accustomed to bad things happening to their favourite team. For the twelfth time in league history, the first overall pick from the previous draft scored in his first game. And then Matthews scored again.
The second goal came with 5:42 left in the first period, on his second shot of the game. He won a puck battle with Mark Stone at the blue line, lost it briefly but got it back from two-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson, then lifted the puck over Marc Methot and beat Craig Anderson with an odd-angled forehand. "What a goal, Matthews, magnificent," play-by-play caller Paul Romanuk told his Hockey Night in Canada audience. "You see that second goal he scored? Not many guys do that," Coach Mike Babcock said after the game. For just the second time in NHL history, the first overall pick scored twice in his first game. Matthews joined Alex Ovechkin with the honour. But Matthews wasn''t done rewriting the NHL Official Guide and Record Book . Another goal, his hat-trick goal, came on a one-timer from inside the right circle on a feed from Morgan Rielly 1:25 into the second period.
The game was in Ottawa, but Leaf fans travel well, and the ice at the Canadian Tire Centre was showered with hats. He had scored three goals on three shots. "Oh my goodness, what a debut," Romanuk told viewers. He was already acting like a veteran. The first two goals got big-time "cellys," or celebrations. The third was more muted, pointing at Rielly to thank him for the pass. In the stands, Matthews''s mother, Ema, was jumping up and down, giving out high fives. Matthews had become the first number-one overall pick to score three times in his debut.
Four other players had done it as far back as 1943, what the NHL calls the onset of its modern era. The Montreal Canadiens forward Alex Smart scored January 14, 1943, against Chicago. Quebec Nordiques forward Réal Cloutier did it October 10, 1979, versus Atlanta. He''d already played five years in the WHA. Dallas Stars forward Fabian Brunnström accomplished the feat October 15, 2008, against Nashville. He was twenty-three and undrafted but had been a pro in Sweden. Impressively, New York Rangers forward Derek Stepan did it October 9, 2010, against Buffalo. He was twenty, two years removed from being a second-round pick in 2008, after spending two seasons at the University of Wisconsin.
Matthews was the youngest to have done it, having turned nineteen on September 17. Sportsnet''s cameras turned to Auston''s parents, Brian and Ema. Ema was wiping tears from her eyes. At the second intermission, rinkside reporter Christine Simpson caught up with the parents. "Those were tears of joy," Ema Matthews told Sportsnet''s viewing audience. "I feel very excited. This is what Auston has been dreaming since he was six, to be playing right here in the NHL." "I hope that nobody''s going to wake me up here anytime soon," Brian Matthews said.
"This is unbelievable." Christine Simpson--perhaps only half jokingly--wondered to the parents if Auston had a fourth goal in him. He did. The fourth goal followed a give-and-go with William Nylander. Matthews lifted the puck past Anderson after blowing by a defender in the slot. "You are looking at the first player ever to score four goals in an NHL debut," gushed Romanuk. "I think everybody was like, ''What''s going on here?''?" Matthews told reporters that night. "Like I said, you don''t really draw it up like that.
" Zach Hyman, his left winger that night and for most of their time together on the Maple Leafs, recalled the evening in wonder. "It was a surreal experience. I think it was surreal for him. I remember being in the locker room with him. After the second period, he had three by then. I think he was a little bit in shock himself. Like, how can you not be? Pretty special. You got four goals, or they''re all scored a different way, right.
Just a great debut." Karlsson--just about as gifted a player as there was in the NHL at the time--was equally impressed. "He got four scoring chances, and he scored four goals," said Karlsson that night. "Two of them, most people probably can''t do. Good for him, and good for Toronto having a player like that." Most rookies get one souvenir puck for their first NHL goal. Matthews got four. "I''ll probably give them to my mom.
She usually does something nice with them." It''s not like the Senators didn''t know what Matthews could do. They, more than any team, should have been prepared. Their assistant coach was Marc Crawford, who had coached Matthews the season prior in Switzerland. "He said, ''This guy is good. He can do this, and he can do that,''?" said Anderson. "It''s not like we didn''t believe him. But there wasn''t an extra emphasis on him.
"Him able to do the things we talked about--pickpocketing, stealing the puck, quick release--that night, everything went right for him. Every time the puck was on his stick, he made something magical happen. He lived up to the hype." Earlier in the day, Matthews''s teammates had been talking about his maturity level, given he was just nineteen and the youngest player on the team. "He''s not like a kid," said veteran forward Leo Komarov. "He''s more like a guy who''s played in this league already." "He''s not afraid of anything," said veteran defenceman Roman Polák. "He''s a man," Coach Mike Babcock told the media gathered in Ottawa for the game.
"He''s nineteen years old, but he acts like he''s twenty-seven. He has great maturity. If you meet his mom and dad, you''re thoroughly impressed with the kind of people they are, and the respect he has for his mom and sisters, the kind of guy he is. Don''t get me wrong, we would have drafted him anyway, but that makes him more special." After the game, Matthews joked the last time he scored four times was probably "in mites." But he showed his colours with his next comment. "It''s really something you can''t write up," Matthews said. "And it was pretty special having my parents here for them to share the moment with me.
" Family, for Matthews, is everything. His father, Brian, was a technology officer who played college baseball and encouraged his kids to play sports. His mother, Ema, was a former flight attendant who left Mexico to pursue her dreams and encouraged her kids to do the same. She worked two jobs, including as a barista, to help make ends meet. Older sister Alexandria was trying her hand at being a social media influencer with lifestyle, beauty, and fitness videos, and younger sister Breyana would pursue golf. They''re a tight-knit group. "They''ve been a huge part of my career, it was only right for them to be there for the first one," said Matthews. In fact, Brian Matthews--ever the dad, the coach, and one-time college athlete--would usually talk to Auston after a game, just to check in.
"When the moment''s right, he does a pretty good job separating hockey from life in general," Auston said to the Toronto Sun . "It''s not always hockey, hockey, hockey. That helped when I was younger, to let go a little bit. I can only imagine how emotional my mom was getting up there. I saw a couple of videos of them." As the goals piled up, the reaction from fans was understandably excited. But it was the reaction from current and past NHLers that really stood out. Twitter, as X was called then, was abuzz.
"What a way to start a career," posted Maple Leafs great Doug Gilmour. "Feels like I''m watching mite hockey where there''s that one kid who''s just way better than everyone else," posted Martin St. Louis. "Welcome to our beer league," tweeted Penguins defenceman Kris Letang. "Since the start of this game, I didn''t even get a chance to drink four beers, and he''s got four goals," said LA Kings sniper Marián Gáborík. "Most guys would be thrilled to score four in a month," posted ex-Leaf Viktor Stålberg. "I feel like I''m watching one of the 99 overall created players I used to make in NHL 2002 ," wrote Marlies goalie Garrett Sparks. Ryan Callahan tweeted to his ex-Rangers teammate Derek Stepan that his three-go.