It's only natural
Natural hat tricks, in which a player scores three consecutive goals, are not a very common occurrence in the NHL. But for a trio of goalies, the bad luck associated with Friday the 13th may have come a day early when:
~ San Jose's Jonathan Cheechoo gave the Sharks a 3-1 lead over Edmonton in in the second period. They were the defending Rocket Richard Trophy (most regular-season goals) winner's first goals of the season
~ In the same game, Ryan Smyth sparked the Oilers' 6-4 comeback victory and set a team record by scoring three goals within 2:01 in the third period. Smyth's effort, which pushed him past 500 career points, was 17 seconds better than former record holder Wayne Gretzky.
~ New Jersey's Brian Gionta also scored his first three goals of the season, all in the third period to force overtime, in the Devils' 7-6 shootout victory over Toronto. Though it doesn't count among the statistics, Gionta also scored in the shootout.
~ San Jose's Jonathan Cheechoo gave the Sharks a 3-1 lead over Edmonton in in the second period. They were the defending Rocket Richard Trophy (most regular-season goals) winner's first goals of the season
~ In the same game, Ryan Smyth sparked the Oilers' 6-4 comeback victory and set a team record by scoring three goals within 2:01 in the third period. Smyth's effort, which pushed him past 500 career points, was 17 seconds better than former record holder Wayne Gretzky.
~ New Jersey's Brian Gionta also scored his first three goals of the season, all in the third period to force overtime, in the Devils' 7-6 shootout victory over Toronto. Though it doesn't count among the statistics, Gionta also scored in the shootout.
posted by Puckhound at 11:18 AM
2 Comments:
Apparently Cheechoo and Smyth's hatters were the first time two opposing players did it in the same game since 1919.
Excellent comment. Thanks for letting us know.
Time permitting, I'm going to dig around to find out whether the league has ever had a hat trick of natural hat tricks in one night.
Talk to you soon.
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