The Maple Leafs played the Red Wings Friday night in Detroit; the teams will play again on Saturday at Ricoh Coliseum in the Leafs' final preseason tune-up. With Toronto's regular season opener five days away, Auston Matthews showed fans he was ready on Monday with a preseason hat trick. On Friday, each of the Maple Leafs heralded sophomore forwards scored, just days before Toronto will play its first game against the Winnipeg Jets.
Mitch Marner was the first to score on Friday against the Red Wings, when he wired a shot on the power play from above the left circle just under the crossbar.
Like lightning. #TMLtalk pic.twitter.com/3ah4G6es7m
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) September 29, 2017
William Nylander got in on the act next, when he flashed in front of the crease and deflected home a shot by Jake Gardiner.
Tip-top shape. #TMLtalk pic.twitter.com/8dS8KFECFz
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) September 30, 2017
Finally, Matthews added another goal to his preseason ledger, benefiting from some hard work on the forecheck from Nylander and then finding himself in front all alone with only the goalie to beat.
Ping pong practice is paying off for @AM34 . #LoveThisGame pic.twitter.com/l86qfcKzl9
— NHL (@NHL) September 30, 2017
The isn't the first time the Leafs three, explosive young forwards have scored in the same game; it happened twice in their rookie seasons: Feb. 6 in a 6-5 loss against the Islanders, and April 1 in a 5-4 win against the Red Wings.