John Tavares records 14th career NHL hat trick

John Tavares (Quintin Soloviev, Wikimedia Commons)

Canadian Olympic gold medalist John Tavares of Mississauga, Ontario recorded his 14th National Hockey League hat trick on Sunday. He accomplished the feat in a 5-3 Toronto Maple Leafs victory over the Buffalo Sabres at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario. Of Tavares’s 14 NHL hat tricks, eight have been with the New York Islanders and six have been with the Maple Leafs.

Tavares had a natural hat trick. He scored the final three goals of the game. Tavares tied the game at three from Auston Matthews and William Nylander of Calgary, Alberta at 12:41 of the second period on the power-play. Tavares then scored the game-winning goal at 13:51 of the second period from defenseman Chris Tanev of Toronto, Ontario and Oliver Ekman-Larsson to put the Maple Leafs up 4-3. Tavares then closed out the scoring from Mitch Marner of Markham, Ontario and Matthew Knies into an empty net with two minutes and 12 seconds left in the third period.

In 2024-25, Tavares has 15 goals and 13 assists for 28 points in 30 games. He is a +5 with 16 penalty minutes, five power-play points, six game-winning goals, 99 shots on goal, 298 faceoff wins, 21 blocked shots, 34 hits, 10 takeaways, and 23 giveaways.

With the win, the Maple Leafs improve to a record of 19 wins, 10 regulation losses, and two losses in extra time for 40 points. They lead the Florida Panthers by two points in the Atlantic Division.

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