'Seventy Is Not Out Of Reach For Him': Capitals' Head Coach Spencer Carbery Breaks Down Auston Matthews' Ability to Score Goals with Maple Leafs

Carbery spoke about Matthews' game on Wednesday morning, acting unsurprised by the forward's play this season.

Auston Matthews is on the verge of another record-breaking season, but one person who isn't shocked is Washington Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery.

The former Maple Leafs assistant coach was asked about the 26-year-old goalscorer on Wednesday morning ahead of their game against Toronto. Matthews was at 55 goals entering that game and left Washington with two more to his name.

"He's now, again, feeling like that 60-goal year where he's stepping into areas off the rush and just pulling and snapping [the puck] and it's coming off hot," Carbery told reporters in Washington on Wednesday morning.

"Yeah, 70's not out of reach for him."

Matthews is currently on pace for 69 goals by the end of the regular season, which would be a career-high and the most since Mario Lemieux during the 1992-93 season. 

However, for someone like Carbery, who's watched Matthews up close and personal as one of Toronto's assistant coaches from 2021-2023, it's not just the ability to find the net that makes the NHL's leading goalscorer one of the best players in the NHL.

"The thing that I think he does as good as anybody in the world is his ability to win pucks, 50-50 pucks, pull them off the yellow, take contact, spin off," he said to reporters on Wednesday morning. "It's as good as I've ever seen."

Matthews has the most goals in the NHL with 57 this season, nine ahead of the Florida Panthers' Sam Reinhart and Edmonton Oilers' Zach Hyman, who both have 48 on the year.

The Maple Leafs forward also has 32 assists which gives him 89 points through 67 games this season. That's good enough for the second-most points on the Maple Leafs — only behind William Nylander who has 91 points (38 goals, 53 assists) — and the ninth-most in the NHL.

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