Nylander scores OT winner, Matthews nets 5th hat trick of season as Leafs top Flyers

Auston Matthews notched the natural hat trick but the Toronto Maple Leafs needed an overtime goal from William Nylander to salvage a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.

Down 1-0 after a sluggish first period, the Leafs got even at 11:06 of the second when Matthews took a stretch pass from Mitch Marner before firing it past Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson’s glove.

Toronto went up 2-1 on a power play at 14:20 when Matthews blasted a one-timer off a Marner feed.

The sniper then completed the 12th hat trick of his career with 65 seconds left in the period when he ripped another shot that Ersson could only wave at before it flew into Philadelphia’s net.

Matthews’s three-goal flurry in a span of 7:49 gave him 45 on the season, and it was his fifth hat trick of the season, tying Darryl Sittler (1980-81), Babe Dye (1924-25) and Reg Noble (1917-18) for the most in a single season by a Maple Leaf.

Matthews also joined Jonathan Cheechoo and Mario Lemieux as the only players in the last 30 years with at least five hat tricks in a single season.

It also marked his 72nd career multi-goal game, overtaking Darryl Sittler’s record of 71.

Matthews now has 27 goals in the team’s first 25 home games, tying a record set by Charlie Conacher in 1933-34.

The three goals also put him on pace to score 71 this season – no player has scored 70 in a season since Teemu Selanne and Alexander Mogilny, who each scored 76 in 1992-93.

However, with the Maple Leafs leading 3-1 the Flyers attempted to spoil the night as Garnet Hathaway and Travis Konecny scored within one minute late in the third to force the game into overtime.

Nylander’s winner came after Timothy Liljegren moved the puck up the ice and fed the winger for him to bury his 27th of the campaign.

Ilya Samsonov made 29 saves for Toronto. Marner had three assists, while Liljegren had two of his own.

Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly served the second of his five-game suspension for cross-checking. He is scheduled to have his appeal heard Friday at noon in person with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.