Matthews sets a new competition as undermanned Leafs begin road trip.
The screams of “MVP! MVP!” rang around Scotiabank Arena on Saturday night, as Auston Matthews continued to score at a rate unseen seen in more than 30 years.
“Playing here is a big honour and to be able to have the support from the fans … it’s something that none of us take for granted,” Matthews said in a statement. “It’s definitely special.”
Matthews is now doing something very special. The great centre scored his sixth hat trick of the season in Saturday’s 9-2 thumping of the Anaheim Ducks. That is a Leafs record and something we haven’t seen in the NHL since Mario Lemieux did it six times for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1995-96.
“It’s obviously hard to put into words,” Matthews added. “To be in the same sentence as a guy like that, it’s pretty cool.”
Wayne Gretzky has the record for most hat tricks in a season. He had 10 in 1981-82 and 1983-84.
Auston Matthews became the 10th player in NHL history to score six hat tricks in a season, and he still has 29 games to go.
Matthews is on pace for 75 goals. Teemu Selanne and Alexander Mogilny were the last players to achieve 70, each scoring 76 in 1992-93.
“It’s insane,” exclaimed winger William Nylander, who scored his 500th career point on Saturday. “I mean, what does the second best player in the league have right now? “I don’t know.”
Sam Reinhart of the Florida Panthers is Matthews’ closest competitor in the Rocket Richard Trophy race, with 39 goals in 55 games. Matthews scored 48 goals in 52 games.
“He’s just crushing it,” said Nylander, who ranks second on the Leafs with 28 goals. “It’s what he does.”
But he has never done it precisely like this.
Matthews also scored three goals in Thursday’s victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. The Arizona native began the season with two consecutive three-goal outings. He becomes the fifth player in NHL history to go back-to-back twice in the same season, joining Reg Noble (1917-18), Joe Malone (1917-18), Mike Bossy (1980-81) and Gretzky (1983-84).
“Guys are looking around like, ‘This is ridiculous what he’s doing,'” left winger Bobby McMann explained. “It just seems like every time it’s on his stick it goes in the net.”
“He is scoring in different ways,” said coach Sheldon Keefe. “He scores with a pass from behind the goal line and goes low blocker. He scores with a one-timer. And then he scores with a redirected puck on the glove side.”
And Matthews may have scored more on Saturday, but Keefe limited him to 14 minutes and 52 seconds in the lopsided victory. That’s a seasonal low.
“It seems like he is raising the standard consistently,” he remarked. “It’s excellent. I’ve gone through the period of being in awe of Auston, you know? However, it is a new norm for him to score a hat trick and then follow it up with another, which he has done before. It is quite remarkable.”
Matthews finished with a career-high five points on Saturday and appeared intent on getting winger Tyler Bertuzzi a goal on a second-period power play.
“As much as Auston has been shooting the puck and is at the net a ton, I thought the pass by Auston was world-class, too,” he said. “It was wonderful to watch. Auston, if you watch that play, it appears to me that he is waiting for the proper chance to find Bert’s stick. It was important for him to obtain him that one.”
Matthews’ greatest delay between goals this season is four games. Bertuzzi had gone 19 games without a goal.
“He’s a big part of this team and a big part of our locker room,” Matthews added. “So, seeing him get that one feels good for everybody, but I’m sure it feels really good for him.”
“It felt good,” said Bertuzzi, who hadn’t scored since December 27. “I hit the post right before. Yeah, it was nice to see it go in.”
Did he sense that Matthews was looking for him?
“Yeah, a little bit,” Bertuzzi smiled. “Usually I hug the left post and I kind backed up a little bit, because the weak-side D was playing a little bit higher and he gave me a great pass.”
“He’s had more than enough opportunities, but sometimes you just get a little snakebitten,”
Bertuzzi was promoted to the top power play unit due to John Tavares’ unknown ailment. “It was good,” Bertuzzi said. “Get some touches. Got a little bit of confidence and just looking forward to the next game.”
On Tuesday, McMann scored a hat trick against the St. Louis Blues. He was one goal away from duplicating his feat against Anaheim.
“I was telling him to fire it for one more,” Matthews smiled. “It would’ve been pretty cool to see.”
It’s not easy keeping up with Matthews.
“Ah, pretty much impossible,” McMann replied with a smile. “After the second one, he says, ‘Just one more. One more.’ I’m like, ‘It’s easier said than done.’ He makes it look simple.”
McMann’s route to the NHL has not been simple. Saturday marked only his 39th career game. Prior to this week, the undrafted 27-year-old has scored only two goals in 36 games.
“He just keeps getting better and better each game,” Matthews said. “Just the consistency factor, the level of intensity he brings, he’s just a monster out there, so another great night for him.”
McMann was supposed to be a healthy scratch on Tuesday, but he was inserted into the lineup after Tavares became ill and was unable to play.
