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Toronto Maple Leafs forward, Auston Matthews, made history on Thursday night in a 4-3 overtime win over the Dallas Stars on the road.
(Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Matthews, who scored two goals in the game for his 55th and 56th of the season, leads the NHL in goals and passed Rick Vaive for the most single-season goals in Toronto Maple Leafs franchise history, a record that stood firm since it was set in the 1981-82 season. Vaive told NHL.com that he hopes to meet Matthews when he attends the Leafs game against Montreal on Saturday.
"The sky's the limit for this kid, congratulations to him. Records are made to be broken, and I'm proud that mine was broken by such a generational player. He's just getting started too."
(Rick Vaive via NHL.com)
Not only did Matthews break a Maple Leafs franchise record, but he also etched his name into the American hockey record books, as he now has the most single-season goals by any American born player in history. Jimmy Carson of the Los Angeles Kings (55 goals in 1987-88) and Kevin Stevens of the Pittsburgh Penguins (55 goals in 1992-93) are the runner's-up in that category.
Scoring 50+ goals in one season is an achievement in itself, and with only three weeks left in the NHL's regular season, Matthews is on pace to score 65 goals in that time span, and currently has 49 goals in his last 49 games. Absolutely incredible stuff from the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NHL draft. Matthews is the likely recipient of the Rocket Richard Trophy at year's end, and is in serious consideration for the Hart Trophy as league MVP.
Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs hope to ride this momentum into the playoffs, as they sit in second place in the Atlantic Division with 98 points, and (as of now) are in line to play either the Boston Bruins or Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the playoffs.