Do you know the NHL tracks the amount of times a player hits the post and crossbar?
If you remember last season, you can recall Auston Matthews scoring plenty of goals — 69, to be exact. But you can likely recollect that the forward hit the post and crossbar many times too.
The 26-year-old forward led all NHL skaters in combined posts and crossbars hit during the 2023-24 season. He hit the post 15 times and the crossbar five times, which is the most a player has hit ever since the NHL began tracking the metric.
Matthews had the most posts hit this year but was behind Steven Stamkos and Mikko Rantanen for most crossbars hit.
| Name | Posts hit | Crossbars hit | Total (posts + crossbars) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auston Matthews | 15 | 5 | 20 |
| Mikko Rantanen | 12 | 6 | 18 |
| Steven Stamkos | 11 | 6 | 17 |
| Connor McDavid | 13 | 3 | 16 |
| Kirill Kaprizov | 12 | 3 | 15 |
Matthews scored a league-leading 69 goals in 81 games last season and took home his third Rocket Richard Trophy. The Florida Panthers’ Sam Reinhart had the second-most goals in the NHL with 57 in 82 games last season.
Toronto’s top goalscorer has hit the most posts among all NHL players since the 2019-20 season with 47. He’s also pinged the puck off the crossbar 13 times in that span.