The Toronto Maple Leafs once again look like a legitimate contender out East, but it remains to be seen if they can make a Stanley Cup run later this year. Nevertheless, franchise cornerstone Auston Matthews is clearly doing his part.

The former first-overall pick notched his sixth hat-trick of the season on Saturday evening against the Anaheim Ducks and is now on pace to hit the 75-goal mark by the end of the 2023-24 campaign. Via Chris Johnston:

“Sixth hat trick of the season for Auston Matthews. He's now on pace for a 75-goal campaign.”

Truly spectacular from Matthews. This was also his second hat-trick in the last three games, having also netted three on Thursday night in a 4-3 nailbiter victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. Matthews' first goal versus Anaheim came in the first period before he scored two more in the third. The Maple Leafs ultimately blew out the Ducks by a score of 9-2.

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Matthews now sits at 48 goals and 21 assists on the season for a total of 69 points. That's second on the roster behind only William Nylander. Toronto is enjoying a three-game winning streak and sits in fourth place in the heavily competitive Atlantic Division. They've also gone 7-3-0 in their last 10 outings.

There's no question the Leafs will need Auston Matthews to keep firing on all cylinders if they're going to be in the Cup mix. This is one of Matthews' best seasons by far, too. He scored a career-best 60 goals in 2021-22 and looks to be well on his way to surpassing that number at the very least.

But, what's most important to Matthews and Toronto is bringing home a title. We'll see if they can do so.