Hat trick by Matthews leads Maple Leafs in rout of Ducks
Auston Matthews had his second straight hat trick to push his NHL-leading goals total to 48 and added two assists for a career-high five points in the Toronto Maple Leafs' 9-2 victory over the Ducks on Saturday night.
Matthews broke a tie for the Toronto record for hat tricks in a season with six, passing Reg Noble (191718), Babe Dye (1924-25) and Darryl Sittler (1980-81).
“It's pretty remarkable,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said about Matthews. “Credit to him for getting into those spaces and being as dynamic as he is.”
The 26-year-old American is the 10th NHL player with six hat tricks in a season — and the first since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96.
“Playing here is a big honor,” Matthews said after again drawing “M-VP! M-V-P!” chants from the home crowd. “It's something that none of us take for granted.”
Matthews also had his team-record 73rd multigoal
TORONTO >>
game, two more than Sittler. He has 13 career hat tricks.
William Nylander added a goal and two assists to reach 500 career points, Bobby McMann had two goals and an assist,
Martin Jones made 19 saves to help Toronto improve to 29-16-8. Timothy Liljegren had three assists and Mitch Marner, Max Domi and Matthew Knies each had two.
Toronto became the 15th team in NHL history to have hat tricks in three straight games after McMann had the first of his career Tuesday night against St. Louis and Matthews followed that with three goals of his own Thursday night against Philadelphia.
Ryan Strome had a goal and an assist for the Ducks, and Frank Vatrano also scored. Lukas Dostal allowed four goals on 18 shots in the first period before being replaced by John Gibson.
”We watched them skate around the ice for the better part of the first period,”
Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “Terrible start.”
Matthews opened the scoring at 3:41.
Toronto went up 2-0 when McMann snapped his sixth on a power play at 6:06 before McCabe fired his fifth past Dostal, who stopped 55 of the 57 shots he faced Jan. 3 in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Maple Leafs in Anaheim.
Jones didn't have much to do at the other end until Vatrano beat him for his 24th on a man advantage 59 seconds later.
The Maple Leafs restored their three-goal lead on another power play when Nylander buried his 28th with 2:23 left in the period.
Gibson replaced Dostal following the intermission, and Matthews scored his second of the night 50 seconds into the second on another man advantage. Bertuzzi snapped a 19-game goal drought with his seventh to push Toronto to 4 for 4 on the power play at 2:51.
Matthews completed the hat trick at 5:39.
THE SCORE
MAPLE LEAFS 9, DUCKS 2
Up next: Ducks at Sabres, Monday, 9:30a.m., BSSC
SUMMARY
Ducks Toronto
First Period:
1, Toronto, Matthews 46 (Knies, Marner), 3:41. 2, Toronto, McMann 6 (Robertson, Lajoie), 6:06 (pp). 3, Toronto, McCabe 5 (Domi, Nylander), 10:33. 4, Ducks, Vatrano 24 (Strome, Silfverberg), 11:32 (pp). 5, Toronto, Nylander 28 (Matthews, Liljegren), 17:37 (pp). Penalties: Vatrano, ANA (High Sticking), 4:17. Nylander, TOR (Hooking), 10:52. Gudas, ANA (Fighting), 10:52. Domi, TOR (Fighting), 10:52. Lindstrom, ANA (Slashing), 16:25. Strome, ANA (Hooking), 19:49.
6, Toronto, Matthews 47 (Marner, Nylander), 0:50 (pp). 7, Toronto, Bertuzzi 7 (Matthews, Liljegren), 2:51 (pp). 8, Toronto, Matthews 48 (Knies, McCabe), 5:39. 9, Toronto, McMann 7 (Liljegren, Domi), 17:58. Penalties: Jones, ANA (High Sticking), 2:25. Domi, TOR (Hooking), 9:07. Gudas, ANA (Roughing), 14:39. Reaves, TOR (Unsportsmanlike Conduct), 14:39. Domi, TOR (Roughing), 17:58. Gudas, ANA (Cross Checking), 17:58. Toronto bench, served by Reaves (Roughing), 17:58. McTavish, ANA (High Sticking), 18:13.
10, Ducks, Strome 9 (Lindstrom, Killorn), 15:36. 11, Toronto, Robertson 8 (McMann), 17:54. Penalties: Carrick, ANA (Misconduct), 13:34.
Ducks 3-10-8: 21. Toronto
Second Period:
Third Period:
Shots on goal:
18-9-4: 31.
Power-play opportunities:
Toronto 4 of 5.
Ducks, Gibson 11-19-1 (13 shots-8 saves), Ducks, Dostal 8-14-1 (1814). Toronto, Jones 10-7-1 (21-19).
19,247 (18,819). T: 2:23.
Peter MacDougall, Graham Skilliter. Linesmen: Kyle Flemington, Andrew Smith.
Goalies:
A: Referees:
SUMMARY
Kings Boston
First Period:
1, Boston, van Riemsdyk 10 (Shattenkirk, Frederic), 8:03. 2, Kings, Roy 3 (Lewis, Englund), 11:02. 3, Boston, van Riemsdyk 11 (Pastrnak, McAvoy), 14:45 (pp). Penalties: Frederic, BOS (Fighting), 11:02. Englund, LA (Fighting), 11:02. Marchand, BOS (Interference), 12:23. Doughty, LA (Slashing), 14:38.
4, Boston, Richard 1 (Lauko, Boqvist), 13:04. 5, Kings, Gavrikov 4 (Dubois, Clarke), 16:38. Penalties: Clarke, LA (Delay of Game), 1:41. Doughty, LA (Boarding), 5:41.
6, Kings, Laferriere 7 (Dubois, Byfield), 5:51. 7, Boston, Frederic 15 (van Riemsdyk, Geekie), 7:12. 8, Kings, Kopitar 17 (Doughty, Arvidsson), 18:25 (pp). Penalties: Dubois, LA (Roughing), 11:47. Carlo, BOS (Roughing), 11:47. Zacha, BOS (Holding), 16:25.
9, Kings, Clarke 1 (Danault), 4:33. Penalties: Clarke, LA (Hooking), 2:24.
Second Period:
Third Period:
Overtime:
Shots on goal:
Kings 16-6-12-1: 35. Boston 8-9-10-4: 31.
Power-play opportunities:
Boston 1 of 4.
Kings, Rittich 8-2-3 (31 shots-27 saves). Boston, Ullmark 16-6-4 (35-30). 17,850 (17,565). T: 2:48.
Mitch Dunning, Dan O'Rourke. Linesmen: Michel Cormier, Matt MacPherson.
Goalies:
A: Referees: 1 2 1 4 1 1 0 4
Ducks 1 of 3.
2 1 1 — 2 1 — 9 1 — 0 —
Kings 1 of 2.
5 4
with an assist on the goal, and Frederic exchanged punches.
Pastrnak also scored for Boston, but the goal was disallowed after the Kings challenged and officials reviewed video of the play and found Boston's Jake DeBrusk was in the crease while fighting for position with Mikey Anderson.
The review wiped out a great play by Pastrnak, who spun a full 360 degrees at the top of the right circle and came out the spin with a wrist shot that beat Rittich to the stick side.