Former Vancouver Canucks winger Josh Leivo has broken the record for goals in a single season in the KHL after scoring his 49th goal for Ufa Salavat Yulayev.

Leivo broke the record midway through the third period of Saturday afternoon’s 4-1 win over Barys Astana. The play began off of a great display of awareness by Leivo, jumping on a sloppy pass from the opposing defenseman as they were exiting the defensive zone. That left Leivo with an open lane to the net, and he fired off the shot in seconds to make it 3-1 and secure his 49th goal of the season.

The win was also Ufa Salavat Yulayev’s final game of the regular season, meaning that it was Leivo’s last opportunity to set the record.

Leivo’s 49th goal breaks the previous record for goals in a season in the KHL, which was held by winger Sergei Mozyakin when he scored 48 goals for Magnitogorsk Metallurg in 2016-17.

Leivo finishes his KHL season with a record-breaking 49 goals, along with 31 assists for 80 points in 62 games. It was a significant step up from his debut season in the KHL last year, where he had just 15 goals and 23 assists for 38 points in 40 games.

Leivo had spent parts of two seasons with the Canucks, first joining them partway through the 2018-19 season in a deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He played out the rest of that and the 2019-20 season before departing to free agency in the 2020 offseason and signing with the Calgary Flames. He finished his Canucks career with 17 goals and 20 assists for 37 points in 85 games, which was the most productive stretch of his NHL career.

Leivo was originally a third-round pick for the Maple Leafs in the 2011 NHL Draft, making his debut with the team in the 2013-14 season and going on to spend the next six seasons between the AHL and NHL or the Leafs lineup and the press box before he was dealt to the Canucks. After his time with the Canucks, Leivo had one-year stints with the Flames, Carolina Hurricanes and St. Louis Blues before departing for the KHL.