Matthews’ 6th hat trick helps Maple Leafs cruise past Ducks
Forward scores 3 goals for 2nd straight game, also has career-high 5 points
By
Dave McCarthy
NHL.com Independent Correspondent
Matthews’ six hat tricks are most in a season since 1995-96, when Mario Lemieux had six for the Pittsburgh Penguins. His five points were also an NHL career high.
“It’s obviously hard to put into words to be in the same sentence as a guy like that, so that’s all I’ll say about it, but it’s definitely pretty cool,” Matthews said.
Bobby McMann had two goals and an assist, William Nylander had a goal and two assists, and Timothy Liljegren had three assists for the Maple Leafs (29-16-8), who have won three in a row. Martin Jones made 19 saves.
“It’s a great effort from our team all the way around,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “It’s not often over 82 games that you get a game like this, where you sort of put it in cruise control for the second half and you’re just kind of letting the clock wind down.”
Ryan Strome had a goal and an assist, and Frank Vatrano scored for the Ducks (19-33-2), who have lost three of four. Lukas Dostal made 14 saves on 18 shots before being replaced at the start of the second period by John Gibson, who made nine saves.
“We stood around and watched them skate around the ice for the better part of the first period,” Anaheim coach Greg Cronin said. “I think the quick goals they got put us on our heels. They had three power-play goals in the first period. It’s a terrible start. It’s not the way you design it. Just a bad start.”
Matthews gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead at 3:41 of the first period, scoring on a one-timer from the slot off a pass from Matthew Knies from behind the net.
McMann made it 2-0 at 6:06 with a wrist shot from the left circle on the power play.
Jake McCabe pushed it to 3-0 at 10:33 with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle.
Vatrano cut it to 3-1 at 11:32 when he one-timed a cross-ice pass from Strome on the power play, but Nylander made it 4-1 at 17:37 with his own power-play goal, a wrist shot from the left circle over Dostal’s blocker.
Matthews scored a power-play goal 50 seconds into the second period to make it 5-1, one-timing a pass from Mitchell Marner at the top of the right circle.
Tyler Bertuzzi made it 6-1 at 2:51. He redirected in a pass from Matthews at the top of the crease on another power play to end a 19-game goal drought
“It was great,” Matthews said of Bertuzzi’s goal. “[Bertuzzi is] a big part of this team and a big part of our locker room. Seeing him get that one feels good for everybody, but I’m sure it feels really good for him. He’s had more than enough opportunities. Sometimes you just get a little snakebitten, but that one goes in and now you just don’t look back.”
Matthews completed the hat trick to make it 7-1 at 5:39 of the second, chipping in a loose puck in the slot for his League-leading 48th goal.
It is the second time this season he has had a hat trick in consecutive games.
“It’s exceptional. I’ve kind of gone through the phase where you’re in awe of Auston, but this seems to be a new standard for himself,” Keefe said. “To have a hat trick and then follow it up again, which as we know is not the first time he’s done this, it’s pretty remarkable.”
McMann stretched it to 8-1 at 17:58 when he put in a cross-ice pass from Max Domi at the left post.
He has six points (five goals, one assist) in his past three games after getting seven points (two goals, five assists) in his first 26 games.
“It’s been a great development for us,” Keefe said. “What I see there is a guy given that he was going to be a healthy scratch earlier this week (when he scored a hat trick in a 4-1 win against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday). If you put yourself in his shoes, I’m sure he’s like, ‘This is not good, I’ve had my chance and I’m starting to slip’. Once he got his chance, he’s showing that he’s not going to let this one slip. Tremendous week for him.”
Strome made it 8-2 at 15:36 of the third period with a snap shot from the bottom of the left circle.
Nicholas Robertson scored with a wrist shot from the slot at 17:54 for the 9-2 final.
“We just didn’t have any bite,” Cronin said. “It was the exact opposite of Ottawa (a 5-1 win on Thursday), where we were going out hunting pucks down, closing gaps quickly, and we just didn’t have any of that, and a lot of it has to do with Toronto, too. They came out the way we should have come out.”
NOTES: Matthews is the 10th player in NHL history to score at least six hat tricks in a single season. ... Toronto is the 15th team in NHL history have a player record a hat trick in at least three consecutive games. The only other team to do so in the past 30 years was the Washington Capitals (2009-10). ... Maple Leafs defenseman William Lagesson left the game with an upper-body injury at 8:25 of the first period. Keefe said the injury is “going to take some time to settle down.” … Ducks forward Alex Killorn had an assist and two shots in 18:43 of ice time after missing the previous nine games due to arthroscopic knee surgery. … Maple Leafs captain John Tavares did not play and is day to day with an undisclosed injury.
