TORONTO — Alex Ovechkin. Steven Stamkos. Auston Matthews.
The list of players who’ve clawed their way to the 60-goal summit over the past two decades is brief as it is telling. Names that carry weight. Names that made history. Names signifying talent that promised greatness from the very start.
The Rocket Richard Trophy and the ever-growing reel of gorgeous snipes did much of the heavy lifting, but Tuesday night at Scotiabank Arena, Toronto Maple Leafs centreman Auston Matthews earned his place on that list and sealed his ascent as he tucked in his 60th goal of the 2021-22 campaign — a milestone no player in the NHL has touched in 10 years, a peak that’s been reached only twice in the past 20.
It’s the highest sum Matthews has ever collected, sure. The most any player in the Maple Leafs’ 105-year history has ever put up, incredibly. But it’s also something more — it’s a torch being passed. It’s a throne being relinquished. There should be no question now, if there was before tonight, about where No. 34 ranks among this generation of goal-scorers, where he ranks among the best in the NHL right at this moment.
With his 60th, Matthews set the transfer in motion. From The Great Eight, to Papi: the crown of Top Sniper in today’s NHL.
It took a two-goal night from the Maple Leafs’ star pivot to seal that ascent, Matthews potting No. 59 late in the second period against the Detroit Red Wings, corralling a Jason Spezza dish from behind the net and going forerehand-backhand to slip it into the cage. Chants of ‘MVP! MVP!’ erupted from the crowd soon after.
The historic milestone marker came a period later. Matthews picked up the puck along the right wall with a determined look about him. He curled at the blue line, set course for the net, and walked right down main street before unleashing that wicked wrist shot from the slot.
No. 60, with authority. And more ‘MVP!’ chants raining down for good measure.
There was no containing the Scotiabank Arena crowd from there. A few minutes passed before the game could be resumed, so boisterous was the ovation from the Maple Leafs faithful. When it did, every blue and white dash up the ice brought a roar from the crowd, the night finishing as a 3-0 Maple Leafs win.
Where it goes from here for Matthews is anyone’s guess. Ovechkin took that 60-goal thread and kept pulling, spinning it into seven more Rocket Richard campaigns, six more 50-goal masterpieces. Stamkos’s unspooled more haphazardly, the next decade of his career passing without either.
But the pair are bound by that bit of hockey history, by their membership in that extra-exclusive club. And regardless of what happens next, Matthews is a part of that too.
Of course, the true test looms just over the horizon. Because there’s another thing that connects Ovechkin and Stamkos and their careers post-60-snipes, something that allowed their personal accomplishments to be celebrated without caveats — both went on to cement their legacies with championship rings.
For Matthews and his Leafs, that’s the next summit. Performances like Tuesday night’s hint at the potential to perhaps get there, or at least to make a real go of it. But Leafs Nation has one more week to practice patience before those questions can truly be answered.
For now, all eyes turn to Friday night’s tilt with the Boston Bruins. One last chance to hone skills and prepare bodies, one last game to close out a historic season, to celebrate what 2021-22 brought, before it’s crumpled up so the real story can be written.
