UNBELIVABLE: Auston Matthews breaks Alex Ovechkin’s 21st century…
Auston Matthews breaks Alex Ovechkin’s 21st century, single-season goal record after scoring 66th goal against Devils.
Auston Matthews broke an Alex Ovechkin goal-scoring record that stood for 16 years on Tuesday night.
The Great Eight has played cheerleader for Matthews this season as he approached his record.
“God grant that he beat me,” Ovechkin said in February. “If you look at the current hockey, it has a lot more goals, it is more open. So this can be expected.”
Ovechkin added a month later, “He’s a special player. It’s fun to watch. I’m cheering for him. He’s a fun player to watch and the fans are going to love it when he’s going to be 70.”
After passing Ovechkin with goal number 66, Matthews returned some of the niceties.
“It’s cool,” Matthews said. “He’s obviously who he is and what he’s done for the game and what he’s accomplished. It’s a big honor to even be in the same sentence as him.”
Highest single-season goal totals in the 21st century
| Player | Team | Season | Games Played | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auston Matthews | TOR | 2023-24 | 77 | 66 |
| Alex Ovechkin | WSH | 2007-08 | 82 | 65 |
| Connor McDavid | EDM | 2022-23 | 82 | 64 |
| David Pastrnak | BOS | 2022-23 | 82 | 61 |
| Auston Matthews | TOR | 2021-22 | 73 | 60 |
| Steven Stamkos | TBL | 2011-12 | 82 | 60 |
| Pavel Bure | FLA | 2000-01 | 82 | 59 |
| Alex Ovechkin | WSH | 2008-09 | 79 | 56 |
| Jonathan Cheechoo | SJS | 2005-06 | 82 | 56 |
| Mikko Rantanen | COL | 2022-23 | 82 | 55 |
| Leon Draisaitl | EDM | 2021-22 | 80 | 55 |
By jumping over Ovechkin, Matthews has scored the most goals in a single season since Mario Lemieux hit the back of the net 69 nice times during the 1995-96 season. He is also the lone active NHL player to record 60 goals in more than one season.
Matthews notched two points in the game, extending his point streak to 12 games (10g, 11a). Among all NHL players, he ranks sixth in overall scoring with 104 points but is 13 goals ahead of Sam Reinhart (53) for the league lead in goals.
That’s not the only possible record Matthews is coming for. The Maple Leafs star has 365 goals through the first 558 games of his career. At the same point in his career, Ovechkin had 340. The big question for Matthews, who has played all 82 games in a season just once, will be consistency in the later years of his career which Ovechkin mastered.
The next target for the 26-year-old forward will be to record the first 70-goal season in the NHL since both Teemu Selanne and Alexander Mogilny scored 76 goals during the 1992-93 season.
“The process is the same every night,” Matthews said postgame. “I find when you really overthink it and almost want it too much it almost doesn’t go your way. I just try to approach every game the same. Just want to make sure myself individually and as a team we’re doing the right things night in and night out on both sides of the puck. It’s gotta translate here to the postseason. That’s really the mindset.”
Toronto has four games left on their schedule for Matthews to score the four goals to get to 70. Matthews has 18 multi-goal games this season including six hat tricks.