In a month where it felt like very little hockey was played by the Toronto Maple Leafs, @Auston Matthews was still able to shine.

Earlier today, the 24-year-old was named the NHL’s first star of December 2021.

In seven games during December, Matthews scored ten goals and added four assists for 14 points. Before Saturday night’s game, the 24-year-old was on a ten-game point streak, which saw him score 13 goals in that span.

“He’s in some pretty elite company in terms of his ability to score,” said Sheldon Keefe after the Maple Leafs’ 5-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers on December 14th. “He’s going to score lots through his career. [Matthews] scores in different ways as we’ve talked about a number of times through the season.”

The 24-year-old currently finds himself five goals back of @Leon Draisaitl’s league lead of 25 goals.

It’s mind-blowing that the Matthews finds himself as the NHL’s first star of December, when the Maple Leafs’ last game of the month was on the 14th.