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Auston Matthews or David Pastrnak: Who has the better chance at winning the Rocket Richard Trophy?

Matthews or Pastrnak?

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LeafsNation75

LeafsNation75

Registered User
Jan 15, 2010
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Toronto, Ontario
If you had to choose between Auston Matthews or David Pastrnak, who would you say has the better chance of winning the Rocket Richard Trophy this season? As of right now Pastrnak leads with 32 goals in 44 games played and Matthews is 2nd with 31 goals in 45 games played.

I know how at the start of the season Pastrnak was on fire with his goal scoring and looked to be running away with the Rocket Richard. However the fact that Matthews is only 1 goal behind him is impressive when you look more into it with this stat, especially since Sheldon Keefe replaced Mike Babcock.

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I also wanted to add that tonight was the eight time this season that Matthews scored at least 2 goals in a game. So he's been unlucky to not have at least 1 or 2 hat tricks so far when you look at a stat like that. In fact here is a breakdown of each of his 2 goal games so far.

Ottawa on October 2, 2019
Montreal on October 5, 2019
Washington on October 29, 2019
St. Louis on December 7, 2019
Buffalo on December 17, 2019
Detroit on December 21, 2019
Rangers on December 28, 2019
Winnipeg on January 8, 2020

Auston Matthews 2019-20 Game Log | Hockey-Reference.com
Click to read more...
 
Last edited:

pcruz

Registered User
Mar 7, 2013
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LeafsNation75 said:
If you had to choose between Auston Matthews or David Pastrnak, who would you say has the better chance of winning the Rocket Richard Trophy this season? As of right now Pastrnak leads with 32 goals in 44 games played and Matthews is 2nd with 31 goals in 45 games played.

I know how at the start of the season Pastrnak was on fire with his goal scoring and looked to be running away with the Rocket Richard. However the fact that Matthews is only 1 goal behind him is impressive when you look more into it with this stat, especially since Sheldon Keefe replaced Mike Babcock.

I also wanted to add that tonight was the eight time this season that Matthews scored at least 2 goals in a game. So he's been unlucky to not have at least 1 or 2 hat tricks so far when you look at a stat like that. In fact here is a breakdown of each of his 2 goal games so far.

Ottawa on October 2, 2019
Montreal on October 5, 2019
Washington on October 29, 2019
St. Louis on December 7, 2019
Buffalo on December 17, 2019
Detroit on December 21, 2019
Rangers on December 28, 2019
Winnipeg on January 8, 2020



Auston Matthews 2019-20 Game Log | Hockey-Reference.com
Click to expand...


He’s not been unlucky to not have any Hat Tricks.

He’s never scored one in the NHL after his first game.

Likely never will again!

Also doesn’t score EN goals either.
 
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Snippit

Snippit

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Dec 5, 2012
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I fully subscribe to the theory that Matthews is the best goal scorer in the league. Ovechkin's pace has slowed since the 2nd half of last year.

That said I do not get the relevance of "potential hat tricks" here as stated in the OP.
 
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TheKrebsCycle

TheKrebsCycle

Throwing Confetti for Perfetti
Jun 1, 2011
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shelf said:
Since entering the league Matthews has averaged more goals per game than Ovi. Only thing stopping Matthews winning the Richard is potential injuries.
Click to expand...

I wasn't suggesting ovi was a lock or even the favorite just that it's likely to be a 3 horse race not 2. Ovi will go on a run. This coming from a Leafs/Matthews fan.
 
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Regal

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Mar 12, 2010
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shelf said:
Since entering the league Matthews has averaged more goals per game than Ovi. Only thing stopping Matthews winning the Richard is potential injuries.
Click to expand...

Having a very slight edge in goals per game doesn't mean injuries are the only thing stopping him. Ovechkin still had had a higher GPG each of the last two seasons.
 
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Paul4587

Paul4587

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Jan 26, 2006
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Matthews will. Both are shooting at pretty high rates but I think Matthews is more likely to sustain a higher shooting percentage.
 
Merrrlin

Merrrlin

Grab the 9 iron, Barry!
Jul 2, 2019
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Rhaegar Targaryen said:
Matthews will cool off like he always does. Pastrnak has a better shot
Click to expand...

Interesting, the stats say Matthews doesn't actually cool off. One of the most consistent scorers in the past few years. If anything, Pastrnak is closer to the more common goal scorer, when it comes to streaks.

I get the feeling you aren't the type to let pesky things like facts get in your way, though.
 
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BlueBaron

BlueBaron

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May 29, 2006
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I think the coaching change and getting Marner will help Matthews win this race. It's time Ovie passed him the torch but we can't count him or Pastrnak out just yet.
 
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bobholly39

Registered User
Mar 10, 2013
22,235
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Voted for Matthews, as neutral fan.

Obviously the wording of the poll asks for the most likely between just those 2. If it was overall, as others have stated - you can't discount Ovi yet. He's probably still the favorite.
 

Dekes For Days

Registered User
Sep 24, 2018
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bobholly39 said:
If I had a scorer like Ovi, i sure as hell would give him a ton of pp time.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the league feels the same, except when it's a Leaf.

bobholly39 said:
Dumb of other teams to not do the same with their scorers, and too bad for them.
Click to expand...
Ovechkin has more PP time than the entirety of the Toronto Maple Leafs team, so that's literally impossible.

However, under Keefe, Matthews is getting more PP time. The only difference is Matthews has to play 2 minutes of every PP to even get remotely comparable time.
 
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bobholly39

Registered User
Mar 10, 2013
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Dekes For Days said:
Yeah, the league feels the same, except when it's a Leaf.


Ovechkin has more PP time than the entirety of the Toronto Maple Leafs team, so that's literally impossible.

However, under Keefe, Matthews is getting more PP time. The only difference is Matthews has to play 2 minutes of every PP to even get remotely comparable time.
Click to expand...

To the bolded - that's pretty crazy, but it seems like you're right lol.

Doesn't change the point though. If we're talking about the rocket race, and scoring the most goals - if you earn more ice time and score more goals, good on you. Looking at ifs and whys don't matter, all that matters is result. Matthews and Pastrnak are currently ahead, but Ovi has a tendency to find a way to outscore others. So I wouldn't discount him yet
 

Dekes For Days

Registered User
Sep 24, 2018
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bobholly39 said:
Doesn't change the point though. If we're talking about the rocket race, and scoring the most goals - if you earn more ice time and score more goals, good on you. Looking at ifs and whys don't matter, all that matters is result.
Click to expand...
You have a very loose definition of "earn".

For the purposes of the rocket race, we can't take those minutes away from Ovechkin, but it does help us see that he hasn't been the best goal scorer by ability for at least a couple years. We also know that he's 6 back of the lead, and already getting the most PP time in the league, with an amount that is likely to drop by season's end (unlike Matthews' TOI, which is growing).

So not really sure how he's going to make up that gap that just keeps getting bigger.
 

bobholly39

Registered User
Mar 10, 2013
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Dekes For Days said:
You have a very loose definition of "earn".

For the purposes of the rocket race, we can't take those minutes away from Ovechkin, but it does help us see that he hasn't been the best goal scorer by ability for at least a couple years. We also know that he's 6 back of the lead, and already getting the most PP time in the league, with an amount that is likely to drop by season's end (unlike Matthews' TOI, which is growing).

So not really sure how he's going to make up that gap that just keeps getting bigger.
Click to expand...

He's literally done exactly that for the last few years, that's why. I'm not going to bother to go search through scoring logs now - but based on memory i'd say in many of the past 3-4 seasons he wasn't in the lead at halfway mark, but still came back and scored more to win rocket in the end. I think last year may be the one exception, where he led most of the time.

Also - "the gap that just keeps getting bigger". Let's calm down lol. Didn't Matthews just surpass Ovi in goals recently, in the past 5-10 games while on his streak? I'd hardly call that "a gap that keeps on getting bigger". Matthews will cool off, Ovi will go on a streak, and vise versa. 82 games is a long season.
 

Dekes For Days

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Sep 24, 2018
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TheKrebsCycle said:
Ovi always goes on a 2nd half scoring binge.
Click to expand...
bobholly39 said:
He's literally done exactly that for the last few years, that's why. I'm not going to bother to go search through scoring logs now - but based on memory i'd say in many of the past 3-4 seasons he wasn't in the lead at halfway mark, but still came back and scored more to win rocket in the end.
Click to expand...
Ovechkin had scored 65% of his final goal total by this point last year.
57% the year before.
64% the year before.
 
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koyvoo

koyvoo

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Nov 8, 2014
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You guys need to stop putting the “neutral” and “fan of” options if people are going to be pathetic enough to be disingenuous about where they place their vote.
 
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