It has been a tough season for the Toronto Maple Leafs anyway you look at it. On a night their star player made franchise history, they still lost.
Who made Maple Leafs history on Saturday?
Maple Leafs captain Austin Matthews of San Ramon, California set the Maple Leafs record for most goals in a career with 421. He broke the record previously set by Mats Sundin of Bromma, Sweden, who had 420 goals with the Maple Leafs from 1995 to 2008.
How did Matthews set his record breaking goal?
Matthews’s 421 goals have come in the last decade, all with the Maple Leafs. Even though Matthews was raised in the state of Arizona, he was born in California. Matthews is the all-time leader in goals among California born National Hockey League players too. Matthews leads Buffalo Sabres left winger Jason Zucker of Newport Beach, California by a wide margin. Zucker is second on the list with 226 goals.
Inside look at Matthews’s record breaking goal
Matthews, who was the first overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, scored twice in a 4-3 Maple Leafs loss to the New York Islanders at the UBS Arena in Elmont. New York. Matthews’s first goal of the game was his 420th of his career and tied Sundin’s record. It was unassisted and tied the game at one. Matthews’s second goal of the game, which broke Sedin’s record, came with two minutes and 41 seconds left in the first period. Bobby McMann of Wainwright, Alberta and Max Domi of Winnipeg, Manitoba had the assists on a goal that put the Maple Leafs up 2-1. It was a lead the Maple Leafs simply could not protect. Matthew Schaefer, the Canadian star defenseman from Hamilton, Ontario, who was left off the Canadian Olympic team even though he could win the Calder Trophy, scored the overtime winner with 49 seconds left in the extra period from Matthew Barzal of Coquitlam, British Columbia and Emil Heineman of Leksand, Sweden.
What other franchise records does Matthews hold?
The other statistical categories where Matthews is number one for the Maple Leafs are plus/minus (+157), and even strength goals (311). He is fifth all-time in points (760), third all-time in power-play goals with 108 (behind Sundin with 124 and Darryl Sittler of Kitchener, Ontario with 120), second on the Maple Leafs in game-winning goals with 66 (behind Sundin with 79), and third on the Maple Leafs in hat tricks with 14 (behind Sittler with 18 and Babe Dye of Hamilton with 16).
