Steven Stamkos of Markham, Ontario had a National Hockey League game to remember on Wednesday night. In one of the most historic hat tricks in National Hockey League history, Stamkos had his 500th, 501st and 502nd career goals in the same contest as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Stamkos opened the scoring at 4:40 of the first period from Alex Killorn of Halifax, Nova Scotia. He then put the Lightning up 4-0 at 14:35 of the first period. Then at 18:38 of the third period Stamkos closed out the scoring into an empty net from Nikita Kucherov.
In the game, Stamkos was one of three Canadians to have more than one point. The others were Killorn, who had two assists, and Brayden Point of Calgary, Alberta, who had one goal and one assist for two points.
Stamkos is the 47th player in NHL history with 500 regular season goals. He is the Lightning all-time leader in goals (502), points (1024), power-play goals (190), hat tricks (11), and game-winning goals (76).
On the season, Stamkos now has 21 goals and 31 assists for 52 points in 43 games. He is a +7 with 22 penalty minutes, three game-winning goals, 151 shots on goal, 30 blocked shots, 43 hits, 16 takeaways, and 32 giveaways.
The Lightning are in third place in the Atlantic Division. They have a record of 29 wins, 13 regulation losses, and one loss in extra time for 59 points.
