Anthony Cirelli of Etobicoke, Ontario recorded his first National Hockey League career hat trick on Friday. Cirelli scored thrice as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Winnipeg Jets 7-1 at Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Cirelli opened the scoring at 9:27 of the first period from Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson. He then put the Lightning up 3-0 with 53 seconds left in the first period from Palat. Cirelli then notched his hat trick at 7:48 of the third period which put Tampa Bay up 6-1. Palat had the only assist on Cirelli’s third goal of the game.
Cirelli was one of three Canadians in the game to have a multi-point game. Brayden Point of Calgary, Alberta and Steven Stamkos of Markham, Ontario each had two assists. Other Lightning players with a multi-point game were Palat (three assists) and Nikita Kucherov (two goals). The other Lightning goal scorers were Alex Killorn of Halifax, Nova Scotia and Carter Verhaeghe of Hamilton, Ontario.
In 47 games this season, Cirelli has 12 goals and 21 assists for 33 points. He is a +16 with 24 penalty minutes, four power play points, two game winning goals, one shorthanded point, 80 shots on goal, 315 faceoff wins, 31 blocked shots, 57 hits, 40 takeaways and 18 giveaways.
The Lightning are in second place in the Atlantic Division. With a record of 29 wins, 15 regulation losses and four losses in extra time, they have 62 points and six points back of the first place Boston Bruins.
