Auston Matthews Could Become The First Player In NHL History To Win The Rocket Richard And Vezina Trophy
Typically the threshold for a goalie to win the Vezina Trophy is to play in at least 50 games. That way you don't have a guy who gets called up one day, goes in and plays 17 minutes after the starter gets pulled, makes 7 saves on 7 shots and then immediately sent back down to the minors the next day winning it every year.
It just so happened that last night was Auston Matthews' 50th game of the season. And throughout 50 games this year, he has a save percentage of 1.000 and a GAA of 0.00.
On top of being the greatest American goaltender since Mike Richter, Matthews also leads the league in goals with 37 and is on pace to hit the 50-mark for the first time in his NHL career. Which is a little fucked up because he would have easily hit 50 goals in each of the past 2 seasons if they weren't cut short because of Covid. But with the way that Papi is playing, this feels like it'll be the first of at least 4 straight years with at least 50.
Advertisement
Gonna suck for Ovechkin when he only gets to hold the record for like 3 years after breaking Gretzky's.
All I'm saying is this could very much be the year the Leafs finally do it. One of the biggest things that has always held them back in the past was goaltending, and especially in the playoffs. They clearly have the offensive firepower to put up a shit ton of goals whenever they want. But just because you can score 5 goals doesn't mean shit if you give up 6. Now that the Leafs have a certified #1 in Matthews? It's coming home.