TORONTO -- Auston Matthews was ready to look beyond his historic NHL debut less than 24 hours after the fact.
A day after he became the first player in NHL history to score four goals in his debut, a 5-4 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators, Matthews had already set his sights on the Maple Leafs home opener.
"Your first game's always a pretty memorable one," the 19-year-old Matthews said after practice on Thursday afternoon. "(Wednesday) night was something I'll definitely remember for the rest of my life. That's in the past now. We've got a big home opener here on Saturday."
Matthews said he was touched to receive congratulations after the game from a number of current and former NHL players, former Buffalo Sabre and Montreal Canadien Danny Briere in particular.
The Arizona native said he would give the four game pucks to his mother for safe keeping. On hand for his debut in Ottawa, his parents were also slated to attend Saturday's game against Boston. His two sisters as well as an aunt and uncle would be coming as well.
"It's one night," Leafs coach Mike Babcock said of Matthews' four-goal outing, "and you've got to do it for a year and then you've got to do it for two years and then you've got to do it for 15 years so there's lot for him to look forward to."
