Auston Matthews ties Maple Leafs record for most hat tricks in a season with five

Auston Matthews’s great season for the Toronto Maple Leafs continued on Thursday. In a 4-3 Maple Leafs win over the Philadelphia Flyers, Matthews of San Ramon, California tied a Maple Leafs franchise record for most hat tricks in a season with five and set a Maple Leafs franchise record for most multi-goal games in a career with 72. Matthews was one of two Americans with a hat trick on Thursday. The other was Chris Kreider of Boxford, Massachusetts, who scored thrice in a 7-4 New York Rangers win over the Montreal Canadiens.

Looking at Maple Leafs history

The only other Maple Leafs player with five hat tricks in a season was Darryl Sitter of Kitchener, Ontario, who had five hat tricks in the 1980-81 National Hockey League season. Ironically Sittler held the old Maple Leafs record for most multi-goal games in a career with 71.

Matthews’s Hat Trick on Thursday

All three of Matthews’s goals came in the second period. He scored from Mitch Marner at 11:06 of the second period to tie the game at one, put the Maple Leafs up 2-1 from Marner and William Nylander at 14:20 of the middle frame, and then put the Maple Leafs up 3-1 from defenseman Timothy Liljegren with one minute and five seconds left in the second period.

Matthews now has 12 NHL hat tricks. His other hat tricks in 2023-24 came in a 6-5 Toronto win over the Montreal Canadiens on October 11, in a 7-4 Toronto win over the Minnesota Wild on October 14, in a 6-4 Toronto loss to the Buffalo Sabres on November 4, and in a 4-3 Toronto win over the Calgary Flames on January 18.

In 2023-24, Matthews leads the NHL with 45 goals and 33 even strength goals. He also has 21 assists, 66 points, is a +18, with four penalty minutes, 18 power-play points, one shorthanded point, five game-winning goals, 221 shots on goal, 457 faceoff wins, 59 blocked shots, 54 hits, 53 takeaways, and 34 giveaways.

Kreider’s Hat Trick on Thursday

This was Kreider’s sixth NHL hat trick, all with the Rangers. Kreider’s first goal of the game came at 11:09 of the second period from Mika Zibanejad and Jacob Trouba to tie the game at one. Kreider then put the Rangers up 4-1 on the power play at 15:19 of the second period from Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox, and then put the Rangers up 6-3 at 7:59 of the third period from Zibanejad and Jimmy Vesey.

In 54 games, Kreider has 27 goals and 24 assists for 51 points. He is a +17 with 18 penalty minutes, 17 power-play points, three shorthanded points, five game-winning goals, 166 shots on goal, 23 faceoff wins, 13 blocked shots, 70 hits, 13 takeaways and 20 giveaways.