Matthews has natural hat trick in 2nd, Nylander scores in OT in Maple Leafs' 4-3 victory over Flyers
TORONTO - Auston Matthews had a natural hat trick in the second period and William Nylander scored 54 seconds into overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.
Matthews pushed his NHL-leading goals total to 45, completing his fifth hat trick of the season and 12th of his career in a 7:49 span in the second period. He's on a 71-goal pace through 51 games, looking to become the first NHLer to hit 70 since Teemu Selanne and Alexander Mogilny each had 76 in 1992-93.
Ilya Samsonov made 29 saves to help Toronto improve to 28-16-8. Mitch Marner had three assists, and Timothy Liljegren had two.
Travis Konecny had a goal and an assist for Philadelphia. Travis Sanheim and Garnet Hathaway also scored and Samuel Ersson stopped 24 shots. The Flyers dropped to 29-19-7 with their first loss in five games.
After Philadelphia overcame a two-goal deficit in the third to tie it, Nylander scored after Liljegren moved the puck up the ice and fed the winger for his 27th goal.
Down 1-0 after a sluggish first period, the Maple Leafs got even with 8:54 left in the second when Matthews took a stretch pass from Marner and fired a shot past Ersson’s glove. Toronto went up 2-1 on a power play with 5:40 to go in the period when Matthews blasted a one-timer off Marner's feed.
Matthews completed the hat trick with 1:05 left in the period when he ripped another shot that Ersson could only wave at before it flew into net.
Matthews tied the Toronto record for hat tricks in a season , matching Reg Noble (1917-18), Babe Dye (1924-25) and Darryl Sittler (1980-81). Matthews also had his 72nd multi-goal game to break Sittler’s franchise mark.
Hathaway scored off a rebound with 5:46 left in regulation. Konecny tied it on a power-play scramble with 4:45 to go for his 26th of the season.
Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly served the second contest of a five-game suspension for cross-checking Ottawa’s Ridly Greig for firing a slap shot into an empty net.
UP NEXT
Flyers: At New Jersey on Saturday night in NHL Stadium Series game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.
Maple Leafs: Host Anaheim on Saturday night.