Auston Matthews revealed some new sorcery in Montreal on Saturday night:



Never mind the audacious sleight-of-hand required to flip the puck to himself past the forechecker at his own blueline. Forget about the cool dexterity needed to anticipate and bat down the defender’s chip out. Ignore the subtle weave toward, away from, then through the screening defenseman. Try not to think about the speed, accuracy, and deception of the shot.



All that was merely a magician’s misdirection. While you were mesmerized by the puck, security footage shows the curse Matthews cast that really made the goal possible:



Even Carey Price can’t defend against telekinesis.



An offensive artist



Showing that Matthews is an elite goal scorer is so easy it isn’t even an interesting case to make. A 40-goal rookie campaign followed by a goal-per-game start to this young season is proof enough. Looking at where Matthews takes his shots from...