Morgan Rielly drops amazing quote about Auston Matthews following 2nd consecutive hat trick
When Auston Matthews scored his second goal of the night at the 12:35 mark of the 1st period, it became abundantly clear that he would have a very good chance to complete the hat trick with more than 2/3 of the game remaining, which was significant, given the fact that he also notched a hat trick in the Leafs' first game of the season against Montreal on Wednesday. At 10:25 in the 3rd, Matthews did just that and the hats rained down from the stands once again.
Matthews became the first Maple Leaf since Wendel Clark in 1994 to record hat tricks in consecutive games and is one of just 5 players in NHL history to have opened his season with back-to-back hat tricks. The last to do it was Alex Ovechkin in 2017-18, but prior to Ovechkin, that feat had not been accomplished since Cy Denneny, Joe Malone and Reg Noble did so 106 years ago, back in 1917-18.
Following the game, Morgan Rielly was among those asked about Matthews' scorching-hot start to the season. Rielly's quote said it all:
Matthews currently sits 11th on the all-time points list in Toronto Maple Leafs history with 548 career points. Of course, Mats Sundin is the all-time leader with 987 career points. Matthews is on pace to smash that total even before the end of his next contract - let alone what he might be able to do after that should he choose to end his career in Toronto. Matthews' 305 career NHL goals are also just 115 back from Sundin's franchise record 420 goals, which Matthews appears likely to pass by the end of the 2024-25 season.
Matthews already holds a number of Maple Leafs records, but as Rielly had stated on Saturday night, there aren't a whole lot of records that are safe as long as Matthews remains in a Leafs sweater.
| POLL | ||
15 OCTOBRE | 100 ANSWERS Morgan Rielly drops amazing quote about Auston Matthews following 2nd consecutive hat trick Will Auston Matthews be the Leafs' all-time goal scoring leader by the end of next season? | ||
| I don't think so, but maybe in that third year | 26 | 26 % |
| Yes, definitely. He's just built different | 42 | 42 % |
| I don't care about records. Bring home the Cup | 32 | 32 % |
| List of polls | ||
