Auston Matthews is one of the most prolific goal scorers in the NHL today. He scores his goals through a combination of a wicked snap shot, nimble hands, the ability to rapidly change his release point, and the timing and intelligence to position himself in goal-scoring positions. This article will touch on the strategies that Matthews uses to translate his exceptional shot into goals.
By the Numbers
Auston Matthews has both a high career shots per game average and a high career shooting percentage, a lethal combination for a goal scorer. His career shooting percentage is 16.0%, well above both the NHL average and the average for only forwards. Given that he has played over 550 career games, it is clear that this number is not a fluke. The following numbers are from his record-breaking 2023-24 season, with data taken from NHL Edge.
Games Played | 81 |
Goals | 69 (99th percentile) |
Shots | 369 (99th percentile) |
Shooting Percentage | 18.7% (97th percentile) |
These impressive statistics are not pure luck, as can be seen from Matthews’ career stats, as of 12/8/2024:
Games Played | 579 |
Goals | 376 |
Shooting Percentage | 16% |
Goal-Scoring Strategies
#1: Changing His Release Point
Watching Auston Matthews’ game tape shows a player that can shoot, and score, using many different release points. He can shoot with his hands inside or outside his body, with the puck around his feet or far out in front of him, and off of one-leg or two-legs. What is most important is that (1) the shot gets off quick, and (2) it gets through to the net. There are plenty of players with high-velocity shots that can only get them off if the puck is in the perfect spot; Matthews is not one of those players. Matthews’ most renowned move is the curl and drag shot. He places the puck outside the defenders stick, curls the puck back, drags it to the inside of the defenders stick, and then quickly releases the puck on net. Here are a few examples of the curl and drag:
Outside of this impressively deceptive move, Matthews’ biggest asset as a shooter is his ability to release pucks from different spots quickly and with high velocity. The following compilation highlights this skill:
A lot of these shots look awkward; he isn’t setting his feet perfectly, the puck is on edge, or the puck is farther out in front of him than what would be ideal. Matthews prioritizes getting the puck through and getting it off quick over taking the extra second to put the puck in the perfect spot. This strategy facilitates his high shot volume and ability to beat goalies before they get properly set.
#2: Speed Control
This strategy will be broken down into two sub strategies: speed control when Auston Matthews has the puck and when he does not. On transition rushes, Matthews rarely looks to beat defenders wide, lower his shoulder, and drive to the net. His preferred method of attack is to saunter in at medium speed and look for a way to get his shot off. Sometimes that involves driving wide and shooting, sometimes it involves curling and dragging around a defender’s stick, and sometimes it involves shooting through a defender’s leg. He employs the same shot-first mentality when he receives a pass in the offensive zone. His primary goal is generally not to circle the zone or even drive to the net; it is to get a shot off.
Matthews also effectively control his speed without the puck. He is constantly looking for soft areas of the ice where he can receive a pass and get his shot off, rather than just trying to skate as fast as he can up and down the ice.
The following clips show Matthews slowing himself down in order to either (1) get to open-ice without the puck, or (2) formulate a plan for how to get his shot through to the net when he does have the puck.
#3: Finding Soft Area on his One-Time Side Out of Net-Front Scrums
When there are scrums in front of the net, or if the opposing defenders start running around, Auston Matthews will pop out on his one-time side and find a soft spot just above the scrum. He often does this at a very wide angle well outside the dots. What’s important for him in these situations is not maximizing the angle but finding open space. In situations where opposing defenders are scrambling and forwards are defaulting to protecting the house and clearing out the net front rather than being alert for any pop-up options, Matthews gets lost on his half wall to create a prime goal-scoring opportunity. Here are five examples of Matthews scoring from this technique during the 2023-24 season:
In each of these five clips, there is some kind of breakdown or chaotic situation. Either a team gets scrambled around in their d-zone structure, there is a net front battle, or some other type of havoc. In these situations, the defense collapse closer and closer towards their own goal. Matthews recognizes this and fans out towards the left dot. Interestingly, in each of the first four clips Matthews releases the puck from outside the dot, against the conventional teaching whereby shooters should always spot up on or inside the dot to maximize their angles. In this specific situation, Matthews realizes that spotting up outside the dots gives him the best opportunity of receiving a puck.
The final clip against Boston is a perfect example of how this strategy can be effective. Tavares gets a step on his defender off the rush and takes the puck hard to the net. Two additional Leaf players crash hard to the net, causing three additional Bruins players to collapse to deep inside the house. As the puck spurts out slowly to Marner, the final Bruins player in the slot charges over to prevent Marner from getting a clear shot. Matthews quickly realizes the entirety of this situation and, rather than crashing the net where seven other players already are, immediately fans out to the dot to create a wide-open one-timer.
This strategy is especially relevant for Matthews because opposing defenses often key in on him, meaning that he rarely gets open looks for one-timers or snap shots. Noticing chaos around the net front and fanning out to the dot allows Matthews to create numerous wide-open looks per season, looks which he rarely misses.
#4: Shooting, and Scoring, From Very Sharp Angles
While Auston Matthews does not score a ton of goals from this strategy, it usually nets him about 4-5 goals per year, which is not an insignificant amount. Matthews hopes to catch goalies by surprise with these sharp angle shots by shooting before they are set in their position, and from angles where they do not expect shots to arrive from. The following four goals are from Matthews’ 2023-24 season:
The goalie is never fully set on any of these goals, nor is he mentally ready for a shot to arrive on goal. Matthews releases these pucks extremely quickly in all four goals. The quick release, combined with the unexpected nature of the shot attempt, makes this a dangerous tool.
#5: Winning the Net Front
This is one of Auston Matthews’ most underrated qualities as a scorer. He has both a willingness to engage in net-front battles, the size to get good body position on defenders, and the soft touch to finish pucks in tight. While best known for his shot, Matthews scores the vast majority of his goals from inside the house area. I classified 14 of his 69 goals from 2023-24 as “net-front” goals. This does not count breakaways, tips/deflections, or times where he took hard snap shots from the net-front; these goals are simply a result of Matthews winning the net-front and scoring goals that he would have scored even without his incredible shooting ability.
Videos obtained via InStat. Photo by Claus Andersen, Getty Images.
A Note on the Player Reports
These player reports are designed to provide analysis on what makes the best players in the NHL so good. Please get in touch with me (information found in the Contact Me page) if you have any players/skills that you would like me to analyze and I’ll be sure to respond quickly. For examples of other analyses, see my work on MacKinnon’s skating stride or Kucherov’s collection of skills.