The 24-year-old center, who played 73 games, scored five more goals than Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers, who was second.
Matthews, who scored 51 goals during a 50-game stretch from Nov. 24-April 9, finished the regular season with 106 points; he also had an NHL career high 46 assists.
"Sixty goals is hard," Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner said. "Anyone you talk to who has achieved that accomplishment knows how hard it is. He's not just putting up goals, he's putting up assists as well and doing stuff for the team to help us win and take us to a new height. It's been a lot of fun to be on that ice with him for a lot of them. It's been remarkable just seeing how hard he works every single day and he's getting better."
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Matthews set a Maple Leafs record when he scored his 55th goal of the season in their 4-3 overtime win at the Dallas Stars on April 7. Rick Vaive scored 54 for Toronto in 1981-82. His 56th goal surpassed the previous record for United States-born players, held by Jimmy Carson, who scored 55 for the Los Angeles Kings in 1987-88, and Kevin Stevens, who scored 55 for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1992-93.
Last season, Matthews also led the NHL in goals with 41 in 52 games. Keith Tkachuk is the only other U.S.-born player to lead the League in goals; he scored 52 for the Phoenix Coyotes in 1996-97.
Selected with the No. 1 pick by the Maple Leafs in the 2016 NHL Draft, Matthews has scored 259 goals in 407 regular-season games and hasn't scored fewer than 34 in any of his six seasons. He has scored the most goals since entering the NHL at the start of the 2016-17 season, four more than Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin (255), who has played 28 more games.
Matthews is the 21st NHL player, and third active, to score at least 60 goals in a season. The other active players to do it are Ovechkin (65 in 2007-08) and Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos (60 in 2011-12).
Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky share the NHL record for most 60-goal seasons with five each.
"Matthews just seems really special," Gretzky said. "What he's doing is very similar to what Ovechkin did when he was younger, so I think they are a lot alike. They're both outstanding goal-scorers."
The Maple Leafs (54-21-7), who are the No. 2 seed in the Atlantic Division, play the No. 3 seed Tampa Bay Lightning (51-23-8) in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round. Game 1 will be played at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN2, CBC, SN, TVAS, BSSUN).
"I think his focus remains on leading this team and that's the best part about him, he just stays humble and continues to work," Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said of Matthews. "He knows he's a great player and knows that goals are going to come. It's just part of what he does for our club. He's leading our team in lots of different ways, and that's what I'm most excited about."
