Jordan Staal of Thunder Bay, Ontario recorded his fourth career National Hockey League hat trick on Sunday. The veteran center scored thrice for the Carolina Hurricanes in a 5-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks.
Staal scored Carolina’s second, fourth and fifth goals of the game. He put Carolina up 2-0 from Nino Niederreiter and Jesper Fast at 5:07 of the second period. That was followed by a goal from Niederreiter and Jaccob Slavin at 13:42 of the third period to put the Hurricanes up 4-2, and an empty netter from Jesper Fast and Anthony DeAngelo with one minute and eight seconds left in the game to put the Hurricanes up 5-2.
Staal has 13 goals and 18 assists for 31 points overall in 71 games. He is a +11 with 16 penalty minutes, two power-play points, one game-winning goal, 132 shots on goal, 674 faceoff wins, 28 blocked shots, 200 hits, 33 takeaways, and 47 giveaways. Staal’s game-winning goal this season came in a 4-0 Carolina win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on February 25.
Staal’s three other hat tricks came with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He scored thrice in a 6-5 Penguins win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on February 10, 2007, in a 7-6 Penguins win over the Detroit Red Wings on November 11, 2008, and in a 10-3 Penguins win over the Philadelphia Flyers on April 18, 2012. Staal’s hat trick against the Flyers came in game four of the 2012 Eastern Conference quarterfinals.
The Hurricanes lead the Metropolitan Division. They have a record of 47 wins, 18 regulation losses, and eight losses in extra time for 102 points overall.
