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Toronto Maple Leafs centre Auston Matthews celebrates after scoring in overtime against the Dallas Stars, in Dallas, on April 7.Tony Gutierrez/The Associated Press

Auston Matthews is rewriting the Toronto Maple Leafs history books and is nowhere near done yet.

The 24-year-old centre became the first player in the franchise’s 105 years to reach 55 goals in a single season on Thursday and then added one more to beat the Dallas Stars 4-3 in overtime at American Airlines Centre.

He very well could exceed 60 over the last 11 regular-season games, which includes dates against the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday and Tuesday.

The most recent NHL players to accomplish the feat were Steven Stamkos of Tampa Bay, who had 60 in 2011-12, and Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin, who had 65 in 2007-08.

Ovechkin won the Hart Trophy as the league’s most-valuable player that year and Matthews is the leading candidate now.

The Maple Leafs enter the weekend with a 46-19-6 record and are in second place in the Atlantic Division, six points behind the Florida Panthers. They are five ahead of the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Toronto just beat Boston and Tampa Bay and lost in overtime to Florida on a tough four-game trip where it scratched out seven of a possible eight points.

Matthews had six goals and four assists in the four games and has now 19 goals and 29 points in his past 15 games.

He exceeded the club record of 55 that Rick Vaive had established 40 years 3 days ago.

“We’re incredibly happy for Auston,” defenceman Morgan Rielly said afterward. “He’s a great person, the way he lives his life, the way that he leads and the teammate that he is and how humble he is even though these accomplishments keep coming his way.

“You couldn’t be happier for a guy like that. He works extremely hard, he deserves it and he’s not done yet.”

Matthews ripped a one-timer past Dallas goalie Scott Wedgewood late in the second period to tie Vaive’s mark and then beat him again in extra time on a rush to the net.

The first goal was assisted by John Tavares and Mark Giordano, the second by William Nylander and T.J. Brodie.

“It is pretty cool to be a part of it, and it felt right for him to get the winner,” Giordano said. “I just laid it there for him and he pounded it.”

The game-winning goal was the 44th of Matthews’s career and moved him into fifth place in franchise history.

It was also his 28th on the road this season, which set a franchise record. Vaive held the previous mark with 27 in 1981-82.

“It’s amazing,” linemate Mitch Marner said. “It’s a hard thing to score a lot of goals in this league and he has made it look really easy, especially over the last couple of games and, really, couple of years.

“It’s been a lot of fun to watch and be on the ice for a lot of those and help him achieve that goal. He puts in a lot of work in the summer to make sure he keeps getting better and better and it’s coming out to show every single night.”

With his teammates teeing the puck up for him, Matthews took a career-high dozen shots. It was his 52nd career multigoal game, passing Pat LaFontaine (51) for the most by a U.S.-born player before age 25.

“It felt good,” Matthews said. “There are a lot of emotions that run through your mind and body when you see the puck go in. It’s really exciting.”

On March 31 Matthews joined Vaive, Dave Andreychuk and Gary Leeman as the only Toronto players to score 50 goals in a single season. He now has 56 goals and 41 assists in 65 games and leads Leon Draisaitl of Edmonton by six in the race for the Rocket Richard Trophy.

“This is Auston’s night and much deserved to finish it with an exclamation point,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “This organization has been around for a long time and has had a lot of great players. It’s an achievement for him to be at the top of the list.”

The game was the 400th during the regular season for Matthews, and increased his totals to 255 goals and 448 points over that span.

“He plays every night,” Rielly said. “It’s always the same. He’s a dog on the puck and when he gets chances it often ends up going in the net.

“He’s a pretty unique player and like I said for all the things he’s accomplished at this point in his career, for him to be the type of person he is and how humble he is it is truly the most impressive part.”

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