After weeks of anticipation, Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews is a member of the 60-goal club.
Matthews has scored 58 goals in the nearly three weeks since his two-goal match against the Montreal Canadaiens in early April, but he finally hit the big milestone on Tuesday night in a 3- 0 before the Detroit Red Wings. He scored the 59th goal in a superb over-the-net game in the second half, and then got his elusive 60th goal in power play after a superb job keeping the ball in the area.
Matthews became the third player in the salary cap era to reach 60 goals after Alex Ovechkin scored 65 in 2007-08 and Steven Stamkos scored 60 in 2011-12. Matthews is also the first Toronto player to score 60 goals in a single season, a fact that’s pretty obvious considering Matthews’ season is now the franchise’s record for goals in a single season after he’s surpassed it. Rick Vaive’s 54 goals at the start of this season. He is also the first American-born player to score 60 goals.
In addition to Matthews’ 60 goals this season, he also has 46 assists and a career-high 106 points, and is only the third Maple Leaf man to get 100 points in a single season. did it in just 73 games, which is lacking. eight games due to injury and suspension.
