Auston Matthews’ hat trick helps Leafs win tight one over Sens
Auston Matthews had three goals and one assist and the Toronto Maple Leafs held on to defeat the visiting Ottawa Senators 6-5 Saturday night for their sixth straight win.
It was the third career hat trick for Matthews, who leads the NHL with 31 goals.
Mitchell Marner added one goal and three assists for the Maple Leafs. Zach Hyman and Ilya Mikheyev each had a goal and an assist. Alex Galchenyuk had two assists.
Jack Campbell stopped 27 shots to earn his 11th straight win, a league record to start a season.
Connor Brown scored a goal for a Senators franchise record seventh straight game and had an assist.
Tim Stutzle and Drake Batherson each added a goal and an assist while Alex Formenton and Josh Norris also scored for the Senators, who have lost four in a row.
Anton Forsberg made 32 saves
Matthews scored two goals 39 seconds apart in the first period.
After an Ottawa turnover, Marner made a back pass to Matthews whose wrist shot from the right circle went in off the post. At 9:31 Marner again set up Matthews, who scored from the bottom edge of the right circle.
Ottawa scored three quick goals in the second period to take a 3-2 lead.
Batherson scored from the side of the net on a rebound at 12:02. It was his 13th goal of the season.
Formenton tied the game with a short-handed goal at 13:49 on a breakaway, and Stutzle scored his seventh goal of the season after a faceoff at 16:25.
Marner responded 27 seconds later with his 14th goal this season that came from a scramble in front of the net.
Toronto regained the lead when Matthews completed his hat trick, scoring from the slot at 19:16 of the second period.
Mikheyev scored his sixth goal of the season from the right circle at 4:44 of the third period.
Brown scored his 13th of the season from the edge of the crease at 7:43 of the third to cut Toronto’s lead to 5-4.
Hyman scored his 14th goal into an empty net at 19:33 of the third. Norris scored his 11th goal 10 seconds later on a power play, but Ottawa couldn’t convert another from there.
–Field Level Media