Originally posted on The Score
Toronto Maple Leafs star William Nylander was in disbelief when he cracked the top 10 on the franchise's all-time goals list during Friday's 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers.
"That's pretty wild to think like that," he said. "I mean, a lot of unbelievable players have played here, so obviously it's crazy to be 10th on that list, for sure."
Nylander climbed the ranks with his 251st career tally, drawing even with Bob Pulford while requiring 285 fewer games to hit the mark:
Rank Player Goals GP 1 Mats Sundin 420 981 T-2 Darryl Sittler 389 844 T-2 Auston Matthews 389 606 4 Dave Keon 365 1062 5 Ron Ellis 332 1034 6 Rick Vaive 299 534 T-7 George Armstrong 296 1188 T-7 Frank Mahovlich 296 720 9 Wendel Clark 260 608 T-10 Bob Pulford 251 947 T-10 William Nylander 251 662The Swede scored in the opening minute of the second frame at Madison Square Garden off a disrupted breakaway attempt. The play was initially ruled no goal, but a review showed the puck had completely crossed the line.
"I was gonna shoot it, but I kinda got hooked a little bit, so the puck ended up behind the net," Nylander said of the play. "I just tried to throw it in front, and then it was in the net. I don't really know what happened. ... I saw it cross the line, so I knew it was a goal."
The milestone moment came almost exactly nine years after his NHL debut on Feb. 29, 2016.
Nylander has the second-most goals in the league this season with 34, although he trails leader Leon Draisaitl by 10. Though it'll be difficult for him to pry the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy from the Edmonton Oilers superstar, Nylander is on pace for a career-high 47 tallies. He's also hit the 40-goal mark in his previous two campaigns.
It's been a season full of milestones for Nylander. He also overtook Pulford for 10th in all-time points on Dec. 20 before passing Ted Kennedy for 10th in assists just 11 days later.
Maple Leafs teammate Auston Matthews is also trying to make some headway on the club's all-time goals list. He's one tally away from taking sole possession of second place, but he hasn't scored in his last three games.
Toronto will look to win its fifth straight game Sunday against the Pittsburgh Penguins at 1 p.m. ET.
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Originally posted on The Score
Published: 4 months ago
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