Nashville Predators centre Steven Stamkos of Markham, Ontario recored his 16th National Hockey League hat trick on Thursday. He accomplished the feat in a 5-3 Predators win over the Ottawa Senators at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Senators jumped out to a 3-0 seconds period lead. However, it was a lead they were unable to protect. Stamkos put the Predators on the scoreboard with one minute and 26 seconds left in the second period on the power-play. Luke Evangelista of Toronto, Ontario and Filip Forsberg had the assists. Stamkos then tied the game at three on the power-play at 10:07 of the third period. Ryan O’Reilly of Clinton, Ontario and defenseman Roman Josi had the assists. Stamkos’s hat trick was the game-winning goal with one minute and 13 seconds left in the game. The Predators went up 4-3 at the time. O’Reilly and defenseman Nick Blankenburg had the assists.
Stamkos was one of two Canadians to score for the Predators in the game. The other was Jonathan Marchessault of Cap-Rouge, Quebec. Stamkos was also one of three Canadians with a multi-point game. O’Reilly had three assists and Evangelista had two assists.
Of Stamkos’s 16 NHL hat tricks, 13 have been with the Tampa Bay Lightning and three have been with the Predators. This was Stamkos’s second hat trick of the season. He scored four goals in a 7-2 Predators win over the St. Louis Blues on December 11.
For the season, Stamkos has 24 goals and 12 assists for 36 points in 50 games. He is a -14 with 26 penalty minutes, 11 power-play points, a NHL high eight game-winning goals, 119 shots on goal, 166 faceoff wins, 20 blocked shots, 51 hits, 18 takeaways and 44 giveaways.
With the win, the Predators improved to a record of 24 wins, 22 regulation losses and four losses in extra time for 52 points. They are one point back of the San Jose Sharks for a playoff spot.
