Auston Matthews' quick wrister beats Jimmy Howard (Video)

Toronto Maple Leafs rookie Auston Matthews scored a gorgeous goal where he quickly found a small hole on Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard and fired a wrist shot past him in their Saturday game.

Early in the second period while on the power play, Matthews and teammate Leo Komarov sped down the boards towards the Red Wings net. Komarov feathered a pass ahead to Matthews, who then beat Howard above the right shoulder.

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“Just some space on the left side and I just gave it to Leo and skated through the middle and he made an unbelievable pass to me and I was just able to sneak it in,” Matthews said of the goal after the game, a 5-4 Maple Leafs win.

The goal was Matthews’ 37th of the season. He scored his 38th later in the game and also assisted on a goal by William Nylander. Matthews’ second goal tied Neal Broten for the most by an American-born NHL rookie in a single season.

Matthews now has 66 points on the season, which tied the Maple Leafs rookie record for points in a season set by Peter Ihnacak in 1982-83.

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As Toronto has pushed to make the playoffs, Matthews – the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 draft – has stepped up his game in a big way. He now has 11 points in his last eight games including seven goals. The Maple Leafs have 91 points, good for second-place in the Atlantic Division and five points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning – the last team in the East out of the playoffs.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

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