Welcome to the NHL, kid.
Much-hyped Toronto Maple Leafs rookie Auston Matthews set high expectations with his first game, as he netted four goals in an overtime loss to the Senators.
Per the Elias Sports Bureau, Matthews is the first player to score at least four goals in his NHL debut (other than the two players who scored five on the day of the first NHL game). He’s the fourth in the modern era (since 1943-44) with a hat trick in his debut and the first to record a debut hat trick the year he was drafted.
It took Alex Ovechkin 202 games to record his first four-goal game. Wayne Gretzky got there a little faster, in 136 games. In scoring four goals in a game, Matthews did something that neither Sidney Crosby nor Gordie Howe has done (thanks to Elias for researching the Howe portion of that note).
There was one four-goal game in the NHL last season, by 19-year-old Sam Bennett for the Flames against the Panthers. Bennett was the fourth-youngest player to score four goals in a game. He dropped a slot Wednesday, as Matthews, 182 days younger, now ranks third. The two youngest, per Elias, were 18-year-olds Jack Hamilton (1943 Maple Leafs) and Bob Carpenter (1981-82 Capitals).
Matthews did come up short in one area (we say that tongue-in-cheek). His four goals are one shy of the record for goals in a season opener. Three players (Babe Dye, Harry Hyland and Joe Malone) scored five goals in an opener. The last instance was Dye for the then-Toronto St. Patricks (now Maple Leafs) in the 1922-23 season.
The Maple Leafs have already gotten almost as much production out of Matthews as they saw from any rookie in 2015-16. Last season, William Nylander was their leading rookie scorer, with six goals.
As far as memorable debuts by No. 1 picks across sports, here are a few of note:
Mario Lemieux's first goal came in the first shift of his debut in October 1984, after he stole the puck from another NHL legend, Bruins defenseman Ray Bourque. Like Matthews', Lemieux's team lost that day.
LeBron James had 25 points, six rebounds, nine assists and four steals in his first game, though his Cavaliers lost to the Kings by 14.
Cam Newton passed for 422 yards, the most by a quarterback in his first career game. That broke a 61-year-old record held by Hall of Famer Otto Graham, though Newton's Panthers lost to the Cardinals.
One debut winner was Stephen Strasburg, who struck out 14 Pirates in seven innings in June 2010. He finished one shy of the record for strikeouts in a debut in the modern era (Karl Spooner, 1954 Dodgers).