Auston Matthews became the Toronto Maple Leafs’ all-time leading goal scorer Saturday night, when he scored his team’s first two goals against the New York Islanders in Elmont, N.Y.
Matthews tied Mats Sundin with his 420th career goal on an impressive unassisted tally 9:30 into the second. The Maple Leafs captain picked up a loose puck at the edge of the Islanders’ zone and skated around New York defenseman Scott Mayfield while keeping the puck at stick’s length before he tucked a shot into the net while skating across the crease.
Matthews collected the record-breaker and put the Maple Leafs ahead with 2:41 remaining in the period, when he took a cross-ice pass from Bobby McMann and fired a shot beyond David Rittich’s glove.
Matthews grinned broadly and raised his arms while teammate Oliver Ekman-Larsson raced over for an embrace. The Maple Leafs spilled on to the ice and mobbed Matthews against the boards across from their bench.
The 28-year-old broke Sundin’s record in his 664th career regular season game — 317 fewer than Sundin needed to set the record from 1994 through 2008.
Matthews is the second visiting player to collect a milestone goal against the Islanders at UBS Arena in the last nine months. The Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record by scoring his 895th goal in a 4-1 loss on April 6.
–Field Level Media
