Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews scores 50th goal in 54th game
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Auston Matthews scored his 50th goal of the season Wednesday night in the Toronto Maple Leafs star's hometown return, becoming the fastest NHL player to reach that mark in 28 years.
Playing his 54th game of the season, Matthews scored 5:01 into the game on a power play to give Toronto a 2-0 lead over the Arizona Coyotes at Mullett Arena.
From nearby Scottsdale, Matthews scored on a shot from the circle to the left of goaltender Karel Vejmelka. Mitchell Marner and Timothy Liljegren assisted on the goal that came with Arizona's Michael Carcone in the penalty box for slashing.
Mario Lemieux achieved the milestone in 50 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1995-96. The fastest was Wayne Gretzky, who got his 50th in his 39th game for Edmonton in 1981-82 on his way to a record 92 goals.
Matthews is the fastest to 50 goals among U.S.-born players, passing Kevin Stevens' record of 62 games set in the 1992-93 season.
Matthews has eight goals in his past four games, his most in a four-game span in his career and the most by a Maple Leafs player since March 1987 (Rick Vaive, 8). He had two consecutive hat tricks before a single goal against St. Louis on Monday night.
Florida's Sam Reinhart is second in the NHL with 39 goals. Matthews has 349 career goals in 535 games.
Matthews had 60 goals two seasons ago to lead the NHL, making him the first to reach that mark since Steven Stamkos had 60 in 2011-12. The last players to score 70 or more in a season were Teemu Selanne and Alexander Mogilny, who each had 76 in 1992-93.
Matthews' goal pace continues to accelerate, as he is now on pace for 75 goals this season, according to ESPN Stats & Information; he could become the third player in NHL history to record a 75-goal season with a Canadian team, joining Gretzky (Oilers) and Selanne ( Winnipeg Jets).
Matthews is the fourth active player with multiple 50-goal seasons ( Alex Ovechkin 9, Leon Draisaitl 3, Stamkos 2), and second in Maple Leafs history to do so after Vaive (3).
ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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