Reilly Smith records first career NHL hat trick

Reilly Smith (Michael Miller, Wikimedia Commons)

Reilly Smith of Mimico, Ontario notched his first career National Hockey League hat trick on Saturday. The Vegas Golden Knights right winger scored thrice in a 4-1 Vegas Golden Knights win over the St. Louis Blues at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada.

Smith opened the scoring at 12:26 of the first period from William Carrier of LaSalle, Quebec, and Keegan Kolesar of Brandon, Manitoba. Smith’s next two goals came in the third period. He put the Golden Knights up 3-1 on the power play at 4:11 from Canadian Olympic gold medalist Alex Pietrangelo of King City, Ontario, and Alec Martinez. Then Smith scored with 49 seconds left in the third period into an empty net to close out the scoring and put Vegas up 4-1.

It was a multi-point game as well for Pietrangelo, who had an assist on the game-winning goal by Chandler Stephenson of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Stephenson scored shorthanded at 13:32 of the first period to put the Golden Knights up 2-0. Pietrangelo won the gold medal for Canada in men’s hockey at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.

In 51 games this season, Smith has 14 goals and nine assists for 23 points. He is a +8 with 16 penalty minutes, five power-play points, two shorthanded goals, one game-winning goal, 116 shots on goal, 20 blocked shots, 44 hits, 19 takeaways, and 19 giveaways.

The Golden Knights lead the West Division with 39 wins, 13 regulation losses, and two losses in extra time for 80 points. They can clinch a division title on Monday when they host the Colorado Avalanche.

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