Auston Matthews in the footsteps of Selanne and Mogilny

In the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 6-3 win over the Arizona Coyotes, who are riding a winless streak in their last ten games, Auston Matthews scored twice to take his goal total to 51.

The Leafs’ No. 34 has now scored 51 goals in just 54 games, which would put him on track for a colossal 77-goal campaign.

AUSTON MATTHEWS HAS 50 GOALS IN 54 GAMES!

We are truly witnessing something special. pic.twitter.com/gyPVh75eQ5

— NHL (@NHL) February 22, 2024

His 51 goals also make him only the second player in the history of the Toronto franchise to break the 50-goal mark on two occasions. Rick Vaive remains the first to achieve this feat, having done so on three occasions.

Incidentally, only four players have reached the 50-goal mark in the Leafs’ history: Matthews, Vaive, Dave Andreychuk and Gary Leeman.

If he keeps up this pace, Matthews could become the first player since Alexander Mogilny and Teemu Selanne to reach the 76-goal mark. We’re talking here about the 1992-93 season – that’s a long way off!

And that’s not all. With this kind of output, Matthews could knock out Alexander Ovechkin and also the Wonder, Wayne Gretzky. His pace after a total of 530 NHL games is higher than the Czar‘s, no less:

Alex Ovechkin through 530 career games: 325 goals
Auston Matthews through 530 career games: 341 goals

AM34 scoring at a historic clip pic.twitter.com/qdsHftMKIr

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 12, 2024

It’s worth pointing out that this monstrous statistic dates back to February 12, and since then, Matthews’ pace has increased slightly.

If, at 38, Ovechkin is just behind Gretzky (838 goals versus 894), Matthews will certainly be doing the same in a decade’s time. At 26, he has no fewer than 350 goals on his scorecard, which is still off the charts.