When Johnny Gaudreau scored his sixth career hat trick against the Tampa Bay Lightning, he did so in a unique fashion perhaps never before seen in the NHL: two of his goals came from bank shots off of Andrei Vasilevskiy‘s back. Surely, that has to be a distinct way to score two out of three goals, and if not, then it must be exceedingly rare.
However, there was more to Gaudreau’s hat trick than just beating one of the league’s best goaltenders twice in the same manner. The hat trick actually broke him out of a four-way tie to move him into sole possession of eighth most hat tricks in Flames franchise history.
Gaudreau’s place in the Flames’ record books
Previously, Gaudreau’s mark of five hat tricks was tied with Eric Vail, Eddy Beers, and Joe Mullen. Vail’s five hat tricks came with the Atlanta Flames between 1974 to 1981, Beers recorded his five from 1983 through 1985, and Mullen got his from 1988 through 1990.
Gaudreau’s first career hat trick occurred in 2014, while his fifth came back in 2019. It’d take him a few seasons to get his sixth, but now he has finally moved up the list for all-time franchise leaders.
Player | Flames Hat Tricks |
---|---|
Kent Nilsson | 14 |
Theoren Fleury | 14 |
Jarome Iginla | 12 |
Joe Nieuwendyk | 10 |
Gary Roberts | 10 |
Lanny McDonald | 9 |
Hakan Loob | 7 |
Johnny Gaudreau | 6 |
How Gaudreau compares to former Flames
Gaudreau is the only active Flame with more than one hat trick during his career. Michael Frolik scored two hat tricks with Calgary while Gaudreau was active, but that’s it. Prior to Gaudreau’s NHL debut, the last players with multiple hat tricks as a Flame were Curtis Glencross, Mike Cammalleri, Olli Jokinen, Jarome Iginla, and Rene Bourque.
It goes without saying that the last Flames player to have more hat tricks that Gaudreau was Iginla, so Gaudreau is finding himself among great company with his hat trick scoring prowess.
How Gaudreau compares to his teammates
Since Gaudreau made his NHL debut at the tail end of the 2013–14 season, there have been 19 hat tricks scored by Flames skaters—he has six of them. Over 31% of the hat tricks scored while Gaudreau was on the roster has been scored by him which makes for an absolutely insane stat line.
Here are all Flames who scored hat tricks since Gaudreau’s debut, sorted by total hat tricks scored as a Flame:
Almost shockingly, hat tricks haven’t exactly been a repeat occurrence for any Flame other than Gaudreau. With their fire power on the top line, you’d think perhaps Matthew Tkachuk or Elias Lindholm would have more hat tricks, or even Sean Monahan from when he used to score more frequently.
However, the reality of the situation is that Gaudreau is scoring hat tricks at a pace the Flames haven’t seen since Iginla—and none of Gaudreau’s teammates have been remotely close to him either.
Hats off to Gaudreau
Clearly, Gaudreau’s hat trick contributions to the Flames have been unique in that he’s essentially been the only player scoring them consistently throughout his career. Contrast that to Iginla, who had numerous teammates with multiple hat tricks surrounding him.
To sum it all up, Gaudreau is in a league of his own.
Photo by Gerry Thomas/NHLI via Getty Images
Ahead of tonight’s contest, the bookies have predicted a heavy favourite, with Betway Sports pricing the Calgary Flames at -190 and the Detroit Red Wings at +320 to win the game in regulation, with an overtime decision being priced at +400.