Ovechkin has 800 NHL goals and is one away from tying Gordie Howe for second all-time.
The Capitals host the Maple Leafs on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, CBC, SNO, SNW, SNP, NBCSWA).
Growing up near Phoenix, Matthews watched Ovechkin and other NHL stars when their teams came to play the Coyotes.
"It's pretty cool thinking back to those times," Matthews said. "[Ovechkin] scored some pretty cool goals against the Coyotes back in the day, so I was lucky enough to be in the building for some of them. It was always quite a spectacle when a guy like him would come into town."
In fact, Matthews was at Glendale Arena when the Capitals forward scored one of the most memorable goals of his career on Jan. 16, 2006, when Ovechkin outmuscled Coyotes defenseman Paul Mara as he went to the net and scored on a no-look backhand after falling on his back past goalie Brian Boucher.
"I think everybody just couldn't believe what happened," Matthews said. "I think everybody was glued to the jumbotron, players, fans everybody couldn't believe what happened. I was pretty lucky to catch that one."
Flash forward 16 years, and Matthews has joined Ovechkin as one of the elite goal scorers in the NHL, having won the Rocket Richard Trophy as the League's top goal-scorer in each of the past two seasons.
The Toronto forward was asked what he thinks makes Ovechkin so good.
"His will to score," Matthews said. "Every year he always plays every game like it's his last. He's just a horse out there.
"There's lots of things that make him great but obviously just the consistency factor and the will to power through every year and every game, and just show up and do his thing is really impressive."
Of Ovechkin's 800 NHL goals, 41 have come against Toronto in 54 games. On Saturday, Matthews and the Maple Leafs -- including goalie Ilya Samsonov, who played the past three seasons with Ovechkin -- will be looking to delay Ovechkin's historic climb up the NHL's all-time goals list.
"It's pretty incredible honestly. It's really hard to put into words but it's pretty cool that we're witnessing some pretty incredible history," Matthews said. "Obviously, you're going to try and shut him down tonight, but he's a pretty tough guy to stop."
