'A beast': Auston Matthews’ record-breaking show is a win for skill over will

TORONTO — Don't get it twisted: will does not always trump skill.

Sometimes skill — when firing at its game-busting, record-breaking best — can bail out a team getting out-hustled, out-structured and out-chanced on the whole. 

Just ask the Toronto Maple Leafs of Thursday night, who rode eight minutes of Auston Matthews' slick brilliance to a 4-3 overtime victory over the overachieving, leg-churning, shoulder-throwing Philadelphia Flyers — a roster that has no business being in the playoff race except they're trying harder than you.

The hungrier and more organized Flyers held a 1-0 lead on the scoreboard after 20 minutes, tilting the sheet to the tune of a 13-4 edge in scoring chances and a 7-2 edge in high-danger ones.

So, what happened to flip the outcome in the Maple Leafs' favour in the second period?

"Matty scores three goals," William Nylander said, matter of fact, after pounding the OT winner home. 

"He's the best goal scorer in the league. So, I don't know what else to tell ya."

Timothy Liljegren joined in the shrugging: "Kind of used to it by now. I guess, just something he does. You know, he goes on a roll. And it's not even like that good of a scoring chances. It's how he shoots those pucks."

How spectacular does one have to be to make the spectacular look routine?

The game was half over and fully in doubt.

Then, in a span of seven minutes and 49 seconds, Matthews snapped three pucks past Samuel Ersson. Each one launched from beyond the dots. Each one beating the Flyers goalie glove side. Each one bulging the twine clean and untouched.

As natural a hat trick as you'll witness — and the first one by a Leaf in Toronto since Wendel Clark ripped three in a row against the Oilers way back on Nov. 9, 1996.

"Obviously game-changing tonight," coach Sheldon Keefe said of the comeback's catalyst. "He was a beast for us in that second period, really kinda got us going, set the example of what was required."

On a night few of his fellow forwards flexed, Matthews finished with three goals, six shots, 12 attempts, two hits, two steals, and a 14-6 performance in the faceoff dot.

On the season, Matthews now has five hat tricks in 51 games (a Leafs record) and becomes the only active NHLer who can make that claim. He's got 45 in the bank, is on pace for 71 goals, and should be shortlisted for a shot at a second Hart Trophy.

On the career, Matthews knocked Hall of Famer Darryl Sittler out of the franchise record book with his 72nd multigoal outing and the only thing standing between he and Mats Sundin for the all-time Leafs goal record is time, and at this rate, not much of it.

"Auston, he's hot today," said winning goalie Ilya Samsonov, thinking back to facing teenage phenom Matthews at the 2016 worlds. "I'm not surprised long time ago, we play against each other in world championships.

"I remember one time we play against him, all five guys play just against him and leave out everybody [else]."

Sure, it's the shot and the drive. But it's also the awareness and desire to put himself in spots to unleash the release.

Take Matthews' third goal.

Liljegren stretches out his glove to prevent a Flyers' clearing attempt by knocking down the puck inside the O-zone. Sensing a counterattack, Liljegren wants Matthews to touch the puck and trigger a hand-pass whistle. 

Instead, Matthews instructs the D-man to play it. Pass it to him. Then the sniper gathers and creates a goal out of a broken play and a moment of hesitation.

Even after the "Matty Hatty" (yes, they happen so frequently, Matthews' three-goal nights have their own cutesy shorthand), Matthews could be seen calling for the puck in the O-zone.

He wanted to hit 'em with the four. And running mate Mitch Marner, who set up goals 43 and 44, was trying to tee him up again.

The Matthews-Marner connection has now combined for 211 goals, another franchise record.

"We just try to push each other as much as we can and challenge each other to be the best versions of ourselves every night and try to lead the team by example," Matthews said. "He's a special player. So, it's just a blast."

Even when witnessed from 200 feet away.

"It's fun to watch how these guys play," Samsonov said. "Like, not a lot of guys in this league play like that — high-risk passes. It's beautiful hockey."

At their best, Matthews and Marner can alter outcomes, disguise deep flaws and flip narratives on their head.

What was shaping up to be a story of how John Tortorella's scrappy bunch won the board battles, drove the net and took advantage of two careless third-period O-zone penalties by the Leafs got overruled by a superstar doing superstar things.

By skill reigning supreme.

Fox's Fast Five

• Morgan Rielly's suspension appeal will be heard in-person by the commissioner at noon Friday in New York.

Working against Rielly: he hit Ridly Greig's head with his stick; he had time to contemplate his action, which was retaliatory; and the cross-check occurred after a whistle.

Working for Rielly: his squeaky-clean track record, and the fact that Greig didn't miss so much as a shift due to injury.

"We think it's high," Leafs captain John Tavares says of five-game ban. "I don't think his intent was to get him as high as he did. We want to stand our ground when situations like that happen, no different than when someone bumps your goalie, sprays your goalie with snow, a shot after the whistle, anything like that."

• Flyers centre and Aurora, Ont., native Morgan Frost hosted approximately 20 friends and family members on Throwback Thursday. One was his father, Andy, who served as the Maple Leafs' public address announcer for 17 years. 

The first thing Morgan does upon his return to Scotiabank Arena is look way up to Level 6 and peek at the Foster Hewitt Media Gondola, the location of Dad's old booth and his boyhood spot along press row. 

"He doesn't get to watch me play too often, so when I get to come here, I want to play well for him — and it brings back a lot of memories for him," Frost told reporters.

"Kind of weird that I would be coming to work with him growing up and now he's coming to watch me work. So, it's pretty cool."

• The Flyers are now 8-1-2 this season when scoring a shorthanded goal, as Matthews handed them their first loss in such a scenario.

While Philadelphia's PK ranks second leaguewide, behind only Los Angeles, the 4-on-5 unit is even better when you factor in shorthanded goals. Philly leads all with an impressive net penalty-kill percentage of 93.6.

• Cecil McMann, Bobby's dad, keeps an early bedtime from all those years of early alarm clocks and shiftwork. 

So the father and son didn't discuss Bobby's Tuesday-night hat trick until Wednesday. 

"Being able to relive it with him and talk through it, it was pretty cool," Bobby smiles. "He was still a little bit shocked. He thought it was pretty sweet. He watched it again yesterday. He said it was sweet to see each goal individually and how different each one was."

• Odd timing for the Flyers to announce Sean Couturier as their 20th captain in franchise history — on the road mid-season, with little fanfare and only a few local reporters covering the story.

Management had long identified Couturier as Claude Giroux's successor for the C, but coach John Tortorella wanted to work with him first. (Couturier missed the entire 2022-23 campaign rehabbing a back injury.) 

"He was a pain in the ass for me last year because he wanted to play," Tortorella says. "He did nothing but complain to me about this, that, the other thing, so I wasn't sure how it was going to go. 

"But he's been strong. He's just been strength in there as far as settling things down at certain times, so this is a good time to give him the reins."