Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon of Halifax, Nova Scotia notched his fourth career National Hockey League hat trick on Wednesday. The 26-year-old All-Star also recorded five points in a game for the fourth time ever in a 9-3 Colorado win over the Los Angeles Kings at the Pepsi Center.
MacKinnon’s first goal of the game came at 10:15 of the first period on the power-play from Cale Makar of Calgary, Alberta and Miko Rantanen, and put the Avalanche up 3-0 at the time. MacKinnon then put the Avalanche up 7-2 with a goal from Makar at 1:18 of the third period, and then put the Avalanche up 9-2 with a goal from Andre Burakovsky at 9:52 of the third period.
MacKinnon’s prior hat tricks came in a 5-4 Avalanche win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on February 22, 2015, in a 6-3 Avalanche win over the San Jose Sharks on December 28, 2015, and in a 6-3 Avalanche win over the St. Louis Blues on May 19, 2021. The hat trick against the Blues came in game two of the 2021 Western Conference quarterfinals. MacKinnon’s prior five-point games came in a 6-2 Colorado win over the Washington Capitals (one goal and four assists) on November 16, 2017, in a 7-1 Colorado win over the Minnesota Wild (two goals and three assists) on March 2, 2018, and in a 7-1 Colorado win over the Winnipeg Jets (one goal and four assists) on January 6, 2022.
On the season, MacKinnon now has 29 goals and 53 assists for 82 points in 57 games. He is a +18 with 40 penalty minutes, 27 power-play points, five game-winning goals, 268 shots on goal, 324 faceoff wins, 37 blocked shots, 57 hits, 35 takeaways, and 49 giveaways.
With the win, the Avalanche improved to a record of 53 wins, 14 regulation losses, and six losses in extra time for 112 points. That is the most points in the NHL.
