MOSCOW — The last time we checked, Auston Matthews was still 18 years old.

Judging by the Justin Bieber-inspired wardrobe he was wearing while lounging around his team’s hotel on Friday — tight-fitting pants with intentional rips in the thighs, a loose-fitting T-shirt and shockingly white sneakers — he looks it.

On the ice, however, it seems the American centre's age is ever-changing.

With each passing game here at the world hockey championship, Matthews has seemingly aged a year. He might have looked like a in-over-his-head teenager in a 5-1 loss to Canada in his tournament debut, but after scoring the only goals for the U.S. in a 2-1 overtime shootout win against the Czech Republic on Thursday, teammates were calling him a leader.

“I think it took him a little time to get comfortable in his own skin,” U.S. captain Matt Hendricks said Friday. “He’s playing around some NHL players and maybe he didn’t know that he needed to be The Man. Now he’s realizing that, Hey, I can take this game over. He definitely had an outstanding performance last night and I expect him to continue on and continue to get better and continue to get more confident.”

In other words, the Matthews that Canada saw two weeks ago is not the same one that they will meet in Saturday’s semifinal showdown.

“Individually, I’m gaining more confidence each game, so I think that’s always good,” Matthews said. “I think as a team as well, each game you want to get better and learn from your mistakes and move forward. And I think that’s exactly what we’ve done … It’s going to be a tough one (against Canada), but I think we’re ready.”

Matthews, of course, is not the only kid who has grown up at the worlds. While he paces the Americans in both goals (five) and points (eight) in eight games, Finland’s Patrik Laine is tied for the tournament lead with seven goals and is tied for third in scoring with 11 points.

With the teens pegged as the No. 1 and No. 2 picks in next month’s NHL draft, the superlatives surrounding their games growing daily.

Laine, whose one-timer has actually blown away goaltenders in hilarious fan-made memes, has been called the second-coming of Alex Ovechkin. Not to be outdone, U.S. forward Nick Foligno has been comparing Matthews to Jonathan Toews, viewed by many as the most complete player in the world.

It’s all a bit silly and probably only adds to the unreal and unfair pressure both players are under in a tournament where 18-year-olds are typically watching from home or, at best, playing limited minutes on the fourth line.

And yet, if the players weren’t able to handle this sort of thing, Foligno said, we wouldn’t be making the comparisons in the first place.

“I’m not trying to sound like they’re the same player,” Foligno said of the Toews comparison. “It’s just that’s the kind of elements he can bring — that he does bring — that’s all I was trying to do in saying that. I wasn’t trying to put more pressure on him, although at this point is there really any more pressure on him?”

For his part, Matthews seems unfazed.

After all, he’s not your normal teenager. He’s not even your normal hockey player.

Instead of spending his draft year racking up an insane amount of points in major junior or the NCAA like Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel did a year ago, Matthews chose the unconventional route and went to Switzerland to challenge himself against men in a league that is considered a rung below the AHL.

He scored 24 goals and 46 points in 36 games and was an MVP finalist.

When his season ended, Matthews called up skills coach Darryl Belfry, who works with John Tavares and the Toronto Maple Leafs, and spent weeks reinventing his shot. It was a curious move for a player who broke Patrick Kane’s U.S. National Development Team scoring record for a single season, yet that’s where the Toews comparison comes from.

Matthews knows he hasn’t figured it all out. He knows there is more work to do, offensively and defensively.

“I think moving on to the higher levels, it’s all about adapting,” he said. “Goalies, defencemen, forwards are going to be better at the next level.”

During a video session after the win against Czech Republic — a game in which Matthews tucked a backhand deke through the goalie’s legs and then used his new release point to sneak a shot that arrived a second too early in the shootout — a clip of the young centre turning the puck over was shown in front of the entire team. So was a clip of what happened immediately after: Matthews, head down, legs churning, chasing the play back into the defensive zone.

For his older teammates, that play was even more impressive than the two goals.

“He’s a player that makes that much of a difference for a team, but sometimes the little things go unnoticed,” said Foligno. “To me, that’s like Jonathan Toews. You don’t always realize the impact he makes in a game until after. I don’t think you can question anything about Auston Matthews.

“It will be a tough challenge to play him in the NHL one day, but I’m glad he’s on my team right now.”

Email: mtraikos@postmedia.com

Twitter: @Michael_Traikos