Auston Matthews Nets Hat Trick in Impressive Second Period Performance

Toronto Maple Leafs‘ star forward Auston Matthews showcased his scoring prowess with an impressive second period hat trick against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.

Trailing 1-0, Matthews ignited the Leafs’ offense by capitalizing on a brilliant pass from teammate Mitch Marner to beat Flyers goaltender Jake Oettinger at the 11:06 mark of the period.

The 26-year-old continued his scoring spree just over three minutes later, converting a pinpoint pass from Marner into a powerplay goal, giving Toronto a 2-1 lead.

In a display of sheer dominance, Matthews completed his hat trick at the 18:55 mark of the second period, courtesy of a well-timed feed from , who intercepted a pass outside the Flyers’ zone.

This remarkable feat marked Matthews’ fifth hat trick of the season and propelled him to the top of the NHL goal-scoring leaderboard with 45 goals, now on pace for a staggering 71-goal season. Notably, Matthews set a career high of 60 goals during the 2021-22 campaign.

Remarkably, this back-to-back hat trick achievement for the Toronto Maple Leafs follows record-setting performance with three goals in Tuesday’s victory over the Florida Panthers.