Matthews has ‘such a long way to go’ to break Ovechkin’s record of 895 NHL goals

TORONTO -- When it comes to projecting who might break Alex Ovechkin’s all-time goal record of 895 one day, Auston Matthews doesn’t think he’s even in the same league as the Great 8.

Having heard that Toronto Maple Leafs teammate Matthew Knies suggested Matthews might be a candidate to eclipse Ovechkin’s mark years down the road, the Toronto captain quickly squashed the idea.

“That’s such a long way away or such a long way to go,” Matthews said after practice Monday. “And, you know, I don’t even think I should be in that conversation.

“I mean, this guy just broke the record. I’m so far away from that, and I don’t think that should be a focus on myself. I mean, it should be on Ovi, and rightfully so. It should be on Ovi, and what he’s been able to accomplish in his career, and obviously this record being one of them.”

Ovechkin surpassed Wayne Gretzky as the NHL career goal leader when he scored on the power play at 7:26 of the second period during his Washington Capitals’ 4-1 loss at the New York Islanders on Sunday. The game was immediately halted for a ceremony honoring the milestone, including Gretzky congratulating the 39-year-old Capitals captain on the ice.

Knies was asked Monday if he could wrap his head around the possibility that someone might break this new record one day.

“It’s pretty crazy,” the Maple Leafs forward said. “Obviously, I can’t count that high. It’s pretty astonishing, but yeah, maybe we’ll see it down the line. ‘3-4’ could do it.”

Knies was referring to Matthews, who wears No. 34. Several minutes later, during his own media scrum, Matthews shot down the idea.

Of course, however much Matthews doesn’t want to talk about the concept, his numbers speak for themselves.

According to NHL Stats, the 27-year-old has the fifth-highest career goals per game (minimum 200 goals) in NHL history at 0.64, trailing only Mike Bossy (0.76), Mario Lemieux (0.75), Cy Denneny (0.75) and Babe Dye (0.75). Pavel Bure is sixth (0.62) and Ovechkin seventh (0.60).

Matthews has 398 goals in 623 career games, 497 shy of Ovechkin’s mark. At his current goals-per-game pace, he would need 778 more games to reach 896 goals, one more than Ovechkin’s record. Based on an 82-game season, that translates to about nine-and-a-half more seasons.

That, of course, would be excluding time missed due to injury. Given that he’s only played all 82 games just once in his career, that coming during his rookie season of 2016-17, it would take longer than that.

Should Matthews play each of the Maple Leafs’ final six regular-season games, he would have averaged 69.66 games per season in his career. At that rate, it would take him just over 11 seasons to reach Ovechkin’s record, which equates to early in the 2036-37 season. Matthews would be 39 years old at the time, the same age as Ovechkin now.

There, of course, are other factors involved.

How many more goals, for example, will Ovechkin have before he retires?

How healthy can Matthews remain?

And how long will Matthews’ totals be augmented by elite wins like his linemate Mitch Marner, who is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent July 1?

None of these questions are of concern right now to Matthews, who, like the rest of the hockey world, just enjoyed watching Ovechkin create history.

“Pretty cool,” he said. “I think just to be able to witness that, I just felt like everything went right there. I mean, it was in his spot (left face-off circle), on the power play, the celebration … everything was amazing.

“And it was pretty cool to witness that record being broken. I mean, kind of like, obviously, Wayne Gretzky, the amount of goals you have to score, the consistency, and everything that goes into it. So, it’s obviously pretty cool to witness that.”

He chuckled when it was pointed out that Ovechkin eats submarine sandwiches as a pregame meal and enjoys a few beers every now and then, not actually the health regimen many modern day NHLers adhere to.

“I mean, I think he’s just built different than most people, probably, and just kind of has that X-factor,” Matthews said. “So, I don’t know.

“I mean, everyone’s different, but he’s obviously a bit of a specimen.”

Matthews needs just two goals to reach 400 in the NHL. But he’s more concerned with his team’s upcoming road trip through Florida, which starts at the Florida Panthers on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, TSN4) and also includes a visit to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday.

Back-to-back wins certainly would leave the Maple Leafs in prime position to finish first in the Atlantic Division. They entered Tuesday in first place with 98 points, two ahead of the Lightning (45-26-6) and six in front of the Panthers (44-29-4). Toronto has a game in hand on each.

The injury-plagued Panthers have lost five consecutive games (0-4-1), but Matthews said the defending Stanley Cup champions are always a handful.

“They’ll be ready to go,” he said. “I think the focus for us is on our team, and our group making sure we’re ready in here. But, obviously, they’re an experienced team, a veteran team.

“You lose a couple in a row (like the Panthers), you know you’re going to get a good game from them.”