Auston Matthews officially in hot pursuit of a long-standing Wayne Gretzky record
It seems like every time Auston Matthews steps onto the ice and scores a goal, he's setting a record or inching closer to one. Friday night was no different as the 26-year-old scored yet another goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets, his 29th of the season. The goal represented his 9th consecutive game where he's scored a goal against Columbus and he is now officially within striking distance of a 37-year-old record set by the legendary Wayne Gretzky.
Matthews' goal gave the Toronto Maple Leafs a 2-1 lead heading into the 2nd period. Unfortunately, the wheels fell off for Ilya Samsonov as he allowed 6 goals on just 20 shots in the overtime defeat.
As far as the record that Matthews is now pursuing, "The Great One" scored a goal in 14 consecutive games against, ironically enough, the Toronto Maple Leafs between 1983 and 1987. Matthews may only be 5 games away from tying the illustrious record but he's going to have to wait another 2 seasons to do it with the Leafs' season series against Columbus coming a close tonight. Since the Leafs and Blue Jackets only play around 3 times per season, Matthews likely won't have the chance to accomplish the feat until the 2025-26 season.
Matthews has now scored 13 goals and 22 points in 15 games against Columbus, which is the 3rd most goals he's scored against a non-divisional opponent in his young career. He's scored 18 goals against Vancouver in 22 games and 14 against New Jersey in just 15 games.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 30 | 1023 ANSWERS Auston Matthews officially in hot pursuit of a long-standing Wayne Gretzky record Is Auston Matthews a better goal scorer than Alex Ovechkin? | ||
| Yes | 611 | 59.7 % |
| No | 144 | 14.1 % |
| Ask me again in 10 years | 268 | 26.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
