Auston Matthews continues onslaught on Leafs' records in win over Sabres
Calder favourite set team record for points by a rookie with his 67th
If it wasn't evident already, it's now official.
Auston Matthews has put together the finest rookie season in the 100-year history of the Toronto Maple Leafs, now with the record for both goals (39) and points (67). The 19-year-old shattered Peter Ihnacak's franchise rookie mark with his 67th point of the season on Monday night — a goal five minutes into a 4-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres.
Matthews has been smashing records almost every game recently.
He scored his 35th goal of the year last week against the Florida Panthers to break Wendel Clark's 31-year-old franchise record for a rookie, also tying Dave Andreychuk's team record with his 14th game-opening goal.
Matthews broke Clark's record at a point when goals are at a far higher premium than they were in 1986. The first player picked first overall by the Leafs since Clark in 1985, Matthews also has 28 assists while earning the most minutes (almost 18 per-game) of any Toronto forward this season.
The NHL's top rookie scorer downplayed his achievement after Toronto closed out a three-game road trip with its fourth straight win.
"I play with some pretty great players, so a lot of credit to them," Matthews said. "But I think the most important part is that, as a team, we have been getting better each game, each segment, so we are in a good spot right now and just need to continue to play well."
Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said team success matters more to Matthews than breaking records.
"He's a mature young man who wants to be great and you are measured in championships in this league," Babcock said.
Nazem Kadri had a goal and an assist, James van Rimedsyk and Leo Komarov also scored, and Frederick Andersen made 18 saves for the Maple Leafs.
The victory vaulted Toronto one point ahead of Boston and Ottawa for second-place in the Atlantic Division.
"All the good teams that are usually in it are doing their job and winning games and now it's up to us to do our job and win games," Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly said. "We're just focused on winning every game between now and the end of the season."
California-born and Arizona-raised, Matthews potted a pair of goals against the Detroit Red Wings a few days later, the latter standing as his eighth game-winner of the season to equal Howie Meeker for another franchise rookie record — one that was set way back in the 1946-47 season. He needs one more game-winning goal to break that mark and one more to top Neal Broten (1981-82) for the most ever by an American rookie.
One more power-play goal and Matthews will match another Leafs franchise rookie record — one that William Nylander already equalled earlier in the year.
"He's an amazing goal-scorer," Nylander said of Matthews recently. "You just watch him every night and he just does thing you don't expect anyone else to do."
Chasing history
He could become only the second rookie in the last 20 years to score 40 goals, joining Alex Ovechkin who had 52 for the Washington Capitals in 2005-06.
Matthews started his NHL career by becoming the first player in history to score four goals in a debut. He's the leading candidate to become the Leafs first Calder trophy winner since Brit Selby in 1966.
Monday's goal also set another benchmark for the franchise. Matthews had scored in five consecutive games, tying the Maple Leafs rookie goal streak record set by Gaye Stewart in 1942.
He's not the only Leafs rookie to equal or break records this season.
Nylander set a new first-year franchise mark with a 12-game point streak, equalling a team rookie records for power-play points in addition to power-play goals. Mitch Marner, meanwhile, has established a new franchise rookie bar for assists, Nikita Zaitsev for ice-time and Zach Hyman for short-handed goals.
The Leafs also became only the second team in NHL history after the 1981 Quebec Nordiques to have three rookies hit the 60-point plateau - Nylander and Marner joining Matthews on Monday night.
The victory vaulted Toronto (39-24-15) one point ahead of Boston (43-30-6) for second-place in the Atlantic Division.
Jack Eichel and Ryan O'Reilly scored for Buffalo. Robin Lehner was pulled after giving up three goals on five shots in the first five minutes, and Anders Nillson stopped 32 of the 33 shots he faced.
The Sabres have lost three in a row and are 6-12-2 in their past 20 games. The late-season collapse will extend Buffalo's playoff drought to six consecutive seasons.
With files from The Associated Press