Auston Matthews had three goals and one assist and the Toronto Maple Leafs held on to defeat the visiting Ottawa Senators 6-5 Saturday night for their sixth straight win.
It was the third career hat trick for Matthews, who leads the NHL with 31 goals.
Mitchell Marner added one goal and three assists for the Maple Leafs. Zach Hyman and Ilya Mikheyev each had a goal and an assist. Alex Galchenyuk had two assists.
Jack Campbell stopped 27 shots to earn his 11th straight win, a league record to start a season. Connor Brown scored a goal for a Senators franchise record seventh straight game and had an assist. Tim Stutzle and Drake Batherson each added a goal and an assist while Alex Formenton and Josh Norris also scored for the Senators, who have lost four in a row.
Anton Forsberg made 32 saves Matthews scored two goals 39 seconds apart in the first period. After an Ottawa turnover, Marner made a back pass to Matthews whose wrist shot from the right circle went in off the post. At 9:31 Marner again set up Matthews, who scored from the bottom edge of the right circle.
Ottawa scored three quick goals in the second period to take a 3-2 lead. Batherson scored from the side of the net on a rebound at 12:02. It was his 13th goal of the season. Formenton tied the game with a short-handed goal at 13:49 on a breakaway, and Stutzle scored his seventh goal of the season after a faceoff at 16:25.
Marner responded 27 seconds later with his 14th goal this season that came from a scramble in front of the net.
Toronto regained the lead when Matthews completed his hat trick, scoring from the slot at 19:16 of the second period.
Mikheyev scored his sixth goal of the season from the right circle at 4:44 of the third period.
Brown scored his 13th of the season from the edge of the crease at 7:43 of the third to cut Toronto’s lead to 5-4.
Hyman scored his 14th goal into an empty net at 19:33 of the third. Norris scored his 11th goal 10 seconds later on a power play, but Ottawa couldn’t convert another from there.
O’Reilly’s overtime goal
sends Blues past Wild
Ryan O’Reilly scored with two seconds left in overtime to lift the St Louis Blues to a 3-2 victory over the visiting Minnesota Wild on Saturday. Blues winger Mike Hoffman scored his second goal of the game with 42 seconds left in regulation to force the overtime.
Vince Dunn had three assists and Ville Husso made 28 saves for the Blues, who won their third straight game.
Matt Dumba and Nico Sturm scored for the Wild and Cam Talbot made 27 saves.
After suffering a 9-1 blowout loss Friday night in St Louis, the Wild responded with a sturdy defensive performance. They outshot the Blues 9-6 in the first period while taking a 1-0 lead.
After Blues defenseman Jake Walman turned the puck over while trying to gain the Minnesota zone, Colton Parayko fell down trying to scramble back to cover for him.
That gave Sturm, back in the lineup after sitting out Friday, a free skate up the left wing
and an open shot from the left dot – which he buried.
Hoffman, who was also a healthy scratch Friday, tied the game with a power-play goal at 3:07 of the second period.
His one-time shot from the right circle deflected off Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin and past Talbot.
Dumba put the Wild back on top with a power-play goal with 1:48 left in the second period. He scored with a slap shot from the top of the left circle through a well-timed screen.
Blues forward Zach Sanford nearly tied the game with 11 1/2 minutes left, but his backhand shot rang off the inside of the right post from point-blank range.
With Husso pulled for an extra attacker, the Blues scored a 6-on-5 goal to tie the game 2-2. Hoffman fired a shot from above the right circle that caromed off Talbot, then Dumba and into the net.
O’Reilly won the game by circling the net and lifting a backhand shot over Talbot’s shoulder with time winding down in overtime.
Results:
Leafs 6-5 Senators
Blues 3-2 Wild
Stars 4-1 Panthers
Flyers 3-2 Bruins
Red Wings 5-4 Hurricanes
Lightning 3-0 Predators
Blackhawks 4-3 Blue Jackets
Flames 5-0 Oilers
Jets 5-0 Canadiens
Kings 4-2 Sharks
Toronto Maple Leafs center Mitchell Marner (second right) celebrates with center Auston Matthews (right) after scoring a goal against the Ottawa Senators during the second period at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. (USA TODAY Sports)