Matthews scores 60th goal of season for Maple Leafs
Matthews #Matthews
Auston Matthews became the first United States-born player in NHL history to score 60 goals in a season when he scored two for the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Detroit Red Wings at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Tuesday.
The 24-year-old center, who was born in San Ramon, California, is the first NHL player to reach the milestone in a decade. Steven Stamkos scored 60 for the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2011-12.
Matthews scored No. 59 at 15:48 of the second period in front off a feed from Jason Spezza from behind the net. It was Matthews’ first goal in six games.
He scored No. 60 at 5:49 of the third period on the power play from the high slot.
Matthews passed Rick Vaive for the most goals in a season in Maple Leafs history when he scored No. 55 in a 4-3 win against the Dallas Stars on April 7. He then scored No. 56 in overtime of the same game to set the record for most goals in a season by a United States-born player in NHL history, passing Kevin Stevens (1992-93 with Pittsburgh Penguins) and Jimmy Carson (1987-88 with Los Angeles Kings).
He scored two goals in his next game against the Montreal Canadiens on April 9. Matthews did not score in the next three games, then missed three games because of an undisclosed injury before returning Saturday in a 3-2 loss to the Florida Panthers. He did not score Sunday against the Washington Capitals for his longest goal drought of the season at five games.
Matthews is the 21st player, and third active, in NHL history to score at least 60 goals in a season. The other active players to do it are Stamkos and Alex Ovechkin of the Capitals (65 in 2007-08).
Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky share the NHL record for most 60-goal seasons with five each.
“It’s very impressive to do and it’s a hard thing to do to score goals in this league, and he’s made it look real easy, especially over the past couple of games, and really couple of years,” Toronto forward Mitchell Marner said following the Stars game. “It’s been a lot of fun to watch and a lot of fun to be on the ice for a lot of those to help him achieve that goal.”