Gretzky: I thought my scoring records were in trouble during Matthews' debut

Auston Matthews put a little scare into Wayne Gretzky.

An NHL Network interview with "The Great One" aired Thursday, which you can watch on Sportsnet, and No. 99's reaction to Matthews' Toronto Maple Leafs debut was great.

"I'm thinking, 'OK, my (50 goals in 39 games) is in jeopardy, and maybe the 92 (goals in a single season record) is in trouble.' I had all these thoughts," he said, jokingly.

"It's hard to score in the NHL," Gretzky added. "And it's really hard today, with the goaltenders being as good as they are and the players as good as they are. So what he did was remarkable. Good for him. It's great for Toronto."

Gretzky also touched briefly on Toronto's rebuild, while also sharing some thoughts on Connor McDavid and Patrik Laine.

"What's more important about (the rise of extraordinary young talent), too, is how they're respecting the game and how they treat people and how much enjoyment you can see they're bringing to their clubs, and how much fun they're having."