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Maple Leafs rookie into NHL record books

NHL rookie Auston Matthews has put himself into the record books with four goals for Toronto in their 5-4 win over Ottawa.

Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews
NHL rookie Auston Matthews has scored four goals for Toronto in their 5-4 win over Ottawa. (AAP)

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Source: AAP


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Auston Matthews needed 40 minutes to get into the NHL record books.

In the highest-scoring debut in modern NHL history, Matthews scored four goals for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but Kyle Turris scored 37 seconds into overtime to give the Ottawa Senators to a 5-4 victory.

Matthews got his fourth with three seconds left in the second period, bringing his mother to tears in the stands.

The 19-year-old from Scottsdale, Arizona, is the 12th first overall pick to score in his NHL debut.

Matthews scored on his first three shots of the game.

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His parents, Brian and Ema, were in the stands and celebrated the first goal with a kiss.

After the third goal, Matthews' mum was shown on the broadcast high-fiving fans and covering her face in disbelief. She cried following the third and fourth goals.

``Those were tears of joy,'' Ema Matthews said. ``I feel very excited. This is what Auston has been dreaming since he was six, be playing right here in the NHL.''

``I hope that nobody's going to wake me up here anytime soon,'' Brian Matthews said. ``This is unbelievable.''

Matthews' debut captivated the league on the season's opening night.

His was the fifth player with three goals in his NHL debut since 1943-44 and first since Derek Stepan with the New York Rangers in October 2010.

Alex Smart (Montreal, 1943), Real Cloutier (Quebec, 1979) and Fabian Brunnstrom (Dallas, 2008) also had hat-tricks in their first NHL games, though Cloutier played five seasons with the Nordiques in the WHA before that.


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