St. Louis Blues centre Robert Thomas of Aurora, Ontario recorded his first career National Hockey League hat trick on Easter Sunday. He accomplished the feat in a 3-2 Blues upset win over the Colorado Avalanche at the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado.
Thomas scored one goal in each period. On all three Blues goals Dylan Holloway of Calgary, Alberta and Jimmy Snuggerud had the assists. Thomas opened the scoring at 12:01 of he first period, tied the game at two at 4:09 of the second period, and broke the 2-2 deadlock with the game-winning goal with two minutes and 50 seconds left in the third period.
In all, Thomas is the third Canadian this season to register a hat trick and score all three of his team’s goals in a victory. San Jose Sharks centre Macklin Celebrini of Vancouver, British Columbia accomplished the feat in a 3-2 Sharks win over the Utah Mammoth on November 18 and Chicago Blackhawks left winger Tyler Bertuzzi of Sudbury, Ontario accomplished the feat in a 3-2 Blackhawks win over the Vegas Golden Knights on January 4.
Thomas has 21 goals and 35 assists for 56 points in 58 games. He is a +20 with 22 penalty minutes, 13 power-play points, three shorthanded points, four game-winning goals, 93 shots on goal, 493 faceoff wins, 37 blocked shots, 10 hits, 27 takeaways, and 84 giveaways.
With the win, the Blues improved to a record of 33 wins, 31 regulation losses and 12 losses in extra time for 78 points. They are three points back of the Nashville Predators for a playoff spot.
