Maple Leafs rookie into NHL record books

Oct 13, 2016 - 3:22 AM 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.

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.

Source: AAP