Huge update regarding Leafs franchise cornerstone Auston Matthews
Auston Matthews is having a sensational season by almost every measure, something every hockey fan is aware of by now. The Arizona native, scored his league leading 55th goal last night in the Leafs' 6-2 triumph over the Philadelphia Flyers.
Matthews sits alone in the Toronto records books as the only Leaf to ever score at least 55 goals in a season. He has now accomplished this feat twice, with the first happening during the 2021-2022 season when he scored 60. Prior to that season, Rick Vaive held the previous record with 54 goals.
The 26-year-old superstar continued to break records on the night. Matthews scored his 25th road goal of the season, becoming the only player in Maple Leafs franchise history to have multiple seasons with 25 goals as a visitor. He scored 28 goals as a visitor during the 2021-22 campaign.
Matthews' goals this season haven't just been from his patented wrist shot that fans have come to expect from him. He has scored from the goal line, tap ins, tips and one-timers, all adding to his dynamic goal scoring prowess.
With his goal last night, Matthews became the only active player to have multiple 40+ even strength goal seasons. The last player to complete this feat was "The Russian Rocket" Pavel Bure, who retired back in 2003.
The former 1st overall pick from 2016 has been astonishing the hockey world with his goal scoring ability since he broke in the league during the 2016-17 campaign. The Leafs have 17 games remaining in the regular season, with Matthews 15 goals short of the elusive 70-goal season. It will be a tall task to reach 70 for Matthews, but not out of the realm of possibility for the greatest goal scorer in the game today.
| POLL | ||
MARS 15 | 710 ANSWERS Huge update regarding Leafs franchise cornerstone Auston Matthews Is Auston Matthews already the greatest Leaf of all-time? | ||
| Yes | 421 | 59.3 % |
| No | 289 | 40.7 % |
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