Auston Matthews explodes for hat-trick as Leafs top Jets 6-5 in wild back-and-forth game
Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
In a crazy game from start to finish, Auston Matthews buried a hat-trick as the Maple Leafs came back from down 4-1 to defeat Winnipeg 6-5 on Thursday night.
Coming into 2026, there were a lot of expectations from the Maple Leafs fanbase about how the team would come out in their first game of the new year. A dominant performance against New Jersey to close out 2025 gave the team a lot of momentum heading into Thursday.
It was a different story for one and a half periods however, as the Jets were relentless to start things off, quickly jumping out to a 2-0 lead that extended to 4-1 halfway through the second.
Auston Matthews hat-trick part of stunning Maple Leafs comeback
But much like Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes in Space Jam, the Maple Leafs must have found some of that 'secret stuff' as they came back firing with two goals to end the period, capped off by an Auston Matthews goal with two seconds left; on the power play no less:
Matthews had already scored the first goal in 2026 for the Maple Leafs and suddenly he was on hat-trick watch; something nobody expected:
After Matias Maccelli tied the game and Mark Scheifele quickly ended up regaining the lead, it was Troy Stecher who brought things even again at five apiece:
Then, in the last few minutes of the game it happened. Matthews found a loose puck after Easton Cowan caused some chaos behind the Winnipeg net, and the captain made no mistake, pulling it to his backhand and securing his third of the night:
Can you tell he was fired up too?
This comes off the heels of Joseph Woll's miserable performance where he gave up four goals on 17 shots and was pulled in favor of Dennis Hildeby. He fared much better, only giving up one goal on 23 shots.
Let's not forget too that Matthews missed last game vs. New Jersey and was returning tonight; if there are doubts about his health this had to have quashed them for now.
A great sign of things to come for both the captain and his crew
Matthews finished with four points on the night and pushed his point total to 31 points in 33 games (18 goals, 13 assists).
Also big props to Matias Maccelli who had two points including that game-tying goal as he continues to raise his trade stock, and Jake McCabe finished with a plus-three and four hits.
Toronto isn't going to be able to win every game like this however it was a reminder that even though things may be dire, the team can still rally together and fight for victories.
The Maple Leafs' next test will be against the New York Islanders on Saturday as they head to Long Island with potentially William Nylander back in the fold but that is yet to be determined.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 1 | 1377 ANSWERS Auston Matthews explodes for hat-trick as Leafs top Jets 6-5 in wild back-and-forth game Do you think Auston Matthews is poised to break out now for the Maple Leafs? | ||
| Yes | 920 | 66.8 % |
| No | 457 | 33.2 % |
| List of polls | ||