Toronto — — William Nylander’s goal 54 seconds into overtime and Auston Matthews’ natural hat trick in the second period gave the Toronto Maple Leafs a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.
In a 7:49 stretch in the second period, Matthews completed his fifth hat trick of the season and his 12th of his career, increasing his NHL-leading goal total to 45.
Nylander called him the league’s top goal scorer. “I have nothing more to say to you,”
With 51 games played, Matthews has scored 71 goals, and he’s aiming to become the first NHL player to reach 70 since Teemu Selanne and Alexander Mogilny both scored 76 in 1992–93.
With 29 stops, Ilya Samsonov helped Toronto advance to 28-16-8. Timothy Liljegren had two assists, and Mitch Marner had three.
For Philadelphia, Travis Konecny scored a goal and provided an assist. In addition, Travis Sanheim and Garnet Hathaway scored, while Samuel Ersson made 24 saves. The Flyers suffered their first defeat in five games, falling to 29-19-7.
Coach John Tortorella of the Flyers declared, “We’ve got some fight.” “Decided how to win a point.”
Nylander’s 27th goal of the game came after Liljegren pushed the ball up the ice and supplied the winger, tying the score after Philadelphia overturned a two-goal lead in the third.
“Noticed a gap,” Liljegren stated. “It would be better if Willie had the puck.”
After a slow first period, the Maple Leafs fell behind 1-0, but with 8:54 remaining in the second, Matthews took a stretch pass from Marner and beat Ersson’s glove to tie the score. With 5:40 remaining in the half, Toronto took a 2-1 lead thanks to a power play goal from Matthews off of a feed from Marner.
With 1:05 remaining in the round, Matthews scored his third goal of the game, ripping off another one that Ersson could only wave at before it sailed into the net.
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