Toronto hockey player Matthews repeated Ovechkin's record

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews scored his 50th goal in 2024 in the regular season National Hockey League (NHL) match against the Detroit Red Wings on December 15. In doing so, he repeated the record of Russian forward Alexander Ovechkin, who plays for the Washington Capitals, and became the fourth hockey player in the XXI century, who managed to score more than 50 pucks in the opponent's goal four years in a row.

Matthews finished the season with more than 50 goals four years in a row. Only Ovechkin, who had such a streak from 2006 through 2009, has done it before. In addition, in the history of Toronto, the American became the first player who managed to score 50 or more pucks more than one year in a row.

The meeting ended with a 4-2 victory for Detroit.

The list of NHL players who scored 50 or more goals in consecutive years is headed by Canadian hockey player Wayne Gretzky - seven years with 50+ pucks (1981-1987). The same indicator has Canadian Mike Bossy (1978-1984), complements "Sport-Express".

Earlier, on November 19, Ovechkin made a double in the NHL match against Utah. Thus, in the current season, he has already scored 25 points. He is 26 pucks away from Wayne Douglas Gretzky's record.

On November 7, Gretzky admitted that the Russian forward will break his record for the number of pucks scored in the National Hockey League.

Wayne Douglas Gretzky is a former Canadian forward. His athletic career spanned 21 years. In the NHL, he set 61 records and won the league's individual prizes multiple times, for which he earned the nickname The Great One. He played for teams such as the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers. He won the Stanley Cup four times with the Edmonton Oilers.

The most important of Gretzky's achievements are records for the number of pucks scored and points scored in regular NHL championships. He has a total of 894 goals and 2,857 points.