Matthews joins elite club of 12 NHL players after goal scoring spree.

The Toronto Maple Leafs picked up a big win over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night. Not that the Canadiens are considered to be a particularly tough opponent, although they have been a difficult opponent for the Leafs at times this season, but the win was one that guaranteed their spot in the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs, a big moment for any team in the regular season.

It was a big night for Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews on an individual level as well however as Matthews joined a truly elite company of former NHL stars thanks to the epic goal scoring spree that he has been on. Matthews' first goal of the night on Saturday earned him his 50th goal scored in 50 games played, an achievement that only 12 players in the history of the National Hockey League had ever accomplished before and none of them more recently than over a quarter of a century ago.

Of those who have managed to achieve the feat, only Maurice Richard, Mike Bossy, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Brett Hull were able to score 50 goals in their team's first 50 games of the season.

Jari Kurri, Alexander Mogilny and Cam Neely all managed to score 50 goals in their first 50 games of a season, but not their team's first 50 games of the season.

Teemu Selanne, Bernie Nicholls, Charlie Simmer and Phil Esposito have had 50 goal stretches over 50 games during a single season, just not in their or their team's first 50 games of the season.

Matthews will slot into that third category along the likes of Selanne and Esposito and will have the extremely rare honor of only being 1 of 13 men to even accomplish the feat at all in the history of the NHL. 

The only question that remains now for Matthews is how high will he take his goal scoring total this season? Currently Matthews has 58 goals to his name but there are still 10 games left of the Maple Leafs schedule before the season comes to an end.