TORONTO -- Auston Matthews and William Nylander are showing no signs of any sophomore slump so far through the pre-season.
Matthews recorded a hat trick and an assist and Nylander had a goal and two assists as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens 5-1 on Monday.
Matthews scored his first goal of the game at 0:47 of the first period. His wrist shot from just inside the blue-line went over the right shoulder of Canadiens (0-5-0) goaltender Al Montoya for a 1-0 lead.
Matthews put the Leafs (3-2-0) ahead 2-0 at 4:56. Nylander's initial shot went high, and Matthews batted down the rebound and into an open side of the net.
The Scottsdale, Ariz., native scored his third goal in the third period. While on a breakaway, Matthews shot the puck between the legs of Montoya at 3:46.
Matthews has four goals and two assists in three pre-season games.
Jeff Petry scored the lone goal for Montreal while on the power play at 11:37 of the second period.
Nylander scored at 6:03 of the third period to give Toronto a 5-1 lead.
Patrick Marleau also had a goal for Toronto while Frederik Andersen made 20 saves.
Although it was just the fifth pre-season game for both teams, the Leafs and Canadiens iced NHL-calibre rosters.
"Why not have similar type teams so you can evaluate the teams?" said Leafs coach Mike Babcock prior to the game.
Notes: Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin missed the game with a "muscular" injury according to head coach Claude Julien. Drouin was expected to suit up for Montreal but did not make the trip to Toronto. Charlie Lindgren was scheduled to start in goal, but the team announced he was out with a lower-body injury. Jake Hildebrand dressed as Montreal's emergency backup goaltender.
