After opening his season with a hat trick against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday, Auston Matthews carried that momentum over to Saturday night's matchup against the Minnesota Wild, who were coming fresh off of a shutout win. Not only did the Leafs shell the Wild, scoring 7 goals on the evening, but Matthews notched his 2nd hat trick in as many games, becoming just the 2nd player in 106 years to accomplish the feat - Ovechkin being the other.
Cherry took to social media on Monday to express his belief in Matthews' ability to score a third consecutive hat trick. At this point, who can disagree with him? Matthews has looked dominant and dangerous every time he is on the ice.
Matthews does have the benefit of heading into a favourable matchup against a bottom-feeding team. With former teammate Petr Mrazek expected to get the start for Chicago, Matthews already has the experience shooting against Mrazek in practice, so he likely knows where Mrazek's weak spots are. Can he do it? We'll find out this evening.
POLL | ||
16 OCTOBRE | 142 ANSWERS Don Cherry makes a gutsy prediction for Auston Matthews ahead of tonight's game against Chicago Do you think Auston Matthews will score his 3rd consecutive hat trick tonight against Chicago? | ||
Yes | 38 | 26.8 % |
No | 56 | 39.4 % |
God, I hope so | 48 | 33.8 % |
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