Auston Matthews scores 40th goal in 46th game, becomes fastest Maple Leaf to reach 600 career points

Toronto Maple Leafs’ forward Auston Matthews scored his 40th goal in only his 46th game of the season on Saturday in the team’s 4-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets. The goal was also Matthews’ 600th career point, making him the fastest player in the Maple Leafs’ 106-year history to reach the milestone by doing it in his 527th career game.

The Maple Leafs’ 600-point record was set just two weeks ago by Mitch Marner, who accomplished the feat in 548 games, breaking Darryl Sittler’s record of 584 games set more than 45 years ago.

Along with his 18 assists, Matthews now has 58 points on the season and is expected to eclipse his career-high 106 points set in 2021-22. That same season, Matthews scored a career-high 60 goals, becoming the first player since Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos did it in 2011-12.

Right now, Matthews is on pace to score 70 goals, a feat that has not been accomplished since Alex Mogilny scored 76 for the Buffalo Sabres in 1992-93. The only other players in NHL history to reach the 70-goal mark are Teemu Selanne, Brett Hull, Mario Lemieux, Bernie Nicholls, Jari Kurri, Phil Esposito, and of course, Wayne Gretzky.

Matthews, 26, was taken No. 1 overall by the Maple Leafs in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft and has scored at least 40 goals in every season of his career except two, both of which he missed at least 14 games due to injury.

In terms of goals per game, Matthews has only ever had one season where he recorded a number below 0.50: his rookie campaign in 2016-17, where he still scored 40 goals and won Rookie of the Year.

The win improves Toronto’s record to 25-14-8 with 58 points, fourth in the Atlantic Division, and they hold on to the first Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. The team now heads into the All-Star break and won’t see action again until Monday, Feb. 5 when they host the New York Islanders.