Brad Richardson of Belleville, Ontario registered his second career hat trick on Thursday as the Arizona Coyotes defeated the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 at the Gila River Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. However, Richardson just did not score three goals on Thursday, he scored four goals.
Richardson became the second player this season to score four goals in a game. On November 24, Patrik Laine of the Winnipeg Jets scored five goals in an 8-4 win over the St. Louis Blues.
In the Coyotes win over the Canucks, Richardson scored four goals on six shots. He opened the scoring at 11:58 of the first period from Lawson Crouse of London. Ontario and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. He then put the Coyotes up 2-1 at 14:45 of the first period from Richard Panik and Vinnie Hinostroza. Then at 11:49 of the second period, Richardson got the hat trick with a game winning goal from Panik and Hinostroza to put the Coyotes up 3-1. Richardson then scored his fourth goal of the game from Hinostroza and Panik at 8:03 of the third period to put the Coyotes up 5-2.
Richardson’s first career hat trick came on October 23, 2010 in a 6-4 Los Angeles Kings win over the Colorado Avalanche. During the 2018-19 National Hockey League regular season, Richardson has a career high 16 goals, five assists, 21 points, 22 penalty minutes, four shorthanded points, three game winning goals. 94 shots on goal, 410 faceoff wins, 43 blocked shots, 38 hits, 19 takeaways and 16 giveaways.
The Coyotes meanwhile have got themselves into playoff contention. At 67 points, they are just one point back of the Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
