Last night, the Toronto Maple Leafs pulled off a gutsy OT win over the surging Philadelphia Flyers on home ice in Toronto, though the win was not without its hiccups. The Leafs blew a 3-1 lead late in the 3rd period before William Nylander buried the OT winner to push the Leafs to 28-16-8 on the season.
Auston Matthews was a man on a mission last night, depositing 3 pucks into the back of the Flyers' net to cap off a natural hat trick, his 5th hat trick of the season, moving him to 45 goals and 66 points in just 51 games this season. It marked the second consecutive night in which a Maple Leafs forward notched a hat trick, as Bobby McMann had done so on Tuesday against St. Louis as well.
Bobby McMann was awarded the Player of the Game belt on Tuesday, and to no one's surprise, he passed it off to Matthews following his big night against the Flyers. But it wasn't the passing of the belt that was the best part of the post-game celebration, it was Matthews and McMann's recreation of one of the most popular memes on the internet that made the most noise.
During the 2nd intermission, the Toronto Maple Leafs' social media team posted the iconic Spider-Man meme with the two identical Spider-Men pointing at one another, one displaying the number 34 to represent Matthews and the other displaying the number 74 to represent McMann. After the game, the social media team convinced Matthews and McMann to replicate the scene after the belt-pass.
The meme recreation by Matthews and McMann already has more than 312,000 views and counting. Granted, it's not something that will register with all audiences, as memes tend to target a certain demographic, but nevertheless, it does show that the Leafs are having fun along the way, which is important for team morale.
