Laine steals show with hat trick in 1st meeting vs. Matthews, Leafs

"Laine's better!"

The chants reverberated true at MTS Centre on Wednesday night.

Patrik Laine outshone Auston Matthews in the first meeting between the top two selections from last summer's draft, completing a hat trick in overtime with a bullet shot over the shoulder of Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen.

Factoring in Matthews' miss on a breakaway literally seconds prior, this highlight will live on reels throughout the season. But there was much more in Laine's performance on the big stage, on a night when Winnipeg erased a four-goal deficit for the first time in franchise history.

The No. 2 pick, suddenly tight-lipped after telling everyone he was the better prospect throughout the draft process, had fans taunting Matthews after his first goal on a tremendous turnaround snipe one minute into the third period. Then after Mark Scheifele brought the Jets to within one in a final frame dominated by the Jets, Laine clapped in the game-tying goal on the power play with 55 seconds left.

With his hat trick, Laine has tied Matthews, who has one assist since scoring four times in his NHL debut, in both goals and points in the rookie scoring race, making certain his name is included when raving about the immense talent taking over the NHL.

"Both of those players are special," Scheifele told Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun. "I guess it was Laine's turn today."