Scoring a hat trick is something most NHL players dream of. It’s one of the toughest single-game accomplishments a player can achieve and results in one of the most iconic traditions in all of hockey – that being the moment everyone throws their hats onto the ice. It’s more than a moment, it’s a celebration.
It’s also for a good cause. All those hats that get thrown onto the ice are usually donated to charity in one way or another. Some players might choose one of the hats to keep as a memento, but most teams will either clean them and donate them or count them and purchase new hats – which are then donated.
A good example of this is with the Minnesota Wild. For years, the team has individually counted each hat that gets thrown onto the ice – which is usually between 100 and 200 hats. The team then buys new hats equal to that amount and gives them to the player, who then hand delivers them to a Children’s Hospital.
Which NHL Players Have More Than One Hat Trick in 2022-23?
Through about two-thirds of the 2022-23 season, the NHL has seen a total of 63 hat tricks from 52 NHL players – a number that’s only going to continue rising in the next two months. The Buffalo Sabres have the most hat tricks so far this season with 7 total by 4 different players. The Carolina Hurricanes have 6.
Breaking it down by the month, the NHL saw 7 hat tricks in October, 14 hat tricks in November, 18 hat tricks in December, 16 hat tricks in January, and 8 hat tricks so far in February. The most hat tricks the NHL has seen in one day was 3 hat tricks – it happened on December 13, December 29, and January 7.
While 52 NHL players have scored a hat trick this year, only 9 have done it more than once – Sebastian Aho, Kyle Connor, Clayton Keller, Connor McDavid, Alex Ovechkin, Mikko Rantanen, Mark Scheifele, Andrei Svechnikov, and Tage Thompson. The latter is the only one to do it more than twice.
9. Sebastian Aho (2)
SEBASTIAN AHO @ENTERPRISE HAT TRICK!!!
— NHL (@NHL) January 22, 2023pic.twitter.com/13xxGfUhmd
Sebastian Aho of the Carolina Hurricanes has scored two hat tricks so far this season – his first coming against the Buffalo Sabres on November 4, 2022. He scored 8:07 into the first period, 12:45 into the first period (power play), and an empty-netter 17:46 into the third period. The Hurricanes won the game 5-3.
Aho’s second hat trick of the season came against the New York Islanders on January 21, 2023. He didn’t score his first goal until 16:40 into the first period, but scored two more in the third period – 7:09 minutes in and again with 22 seconds left in the game (an empty-netter). The Hurricanes beat New York 5-2.
His two hat tricks this season mark the fifth and sixth hat tricks of his young career – the forward is just 25 years old. He scored his first hat trick on January 31, 2017, his second on January 13, 2019, his third on December 7, 2019, and his fourth on May 3, 2021. His team is now 6-0 whenever he scores a hat trick.
Aho is currently in the midst of his seventh season in the NHL – all of which with the Carolina Hurricanes. Through 496 games played, he has scored 207 goals and 246 assists for a total of 453 points. He has 141 even-strength goals, 50 power play goals, 16 shorthanded goals, and 42 game-winning goals.
8. Kyle Connor (2)
KYLE CONNOR HAT TRICK!!!
— NHL (@NHL) January 8, 2023pic.twitter.com/uZXpf63FzW
Kyle Connor of the Winnipeg Jets has scored two hat tricks so far this season. His first hat trick came against the Anaheim Ducks on November 17, 2022. He scored on the power play 12:32 into the first period, 14:15 into the third period, and the game-winner 19:06 into the third period. His team won 3-2.
Connor’s second hat trick of the season came against the Vancouver Canucks on January 8, 2023. He scored the first two goals of the game and they came just 1:37 apart in the first period. His third goal of the game came 13:42 into the third period – the final goal of the game, giving his team a 7-4 victory.
His two hat tricks this season mark the third and fourth hat tricks of his young career – the left winger just turned 26 in December. His first hat trick came vs. the Nashville Predators on March 23, 2019 and his second came vs. the Colorado Avalanche on December 31, 2019. The Jets are now 4-0 in those games.
Connor is currently in the midst of his seventh season – all of which with the Jets. Through 444 career games played, he has scored 204 goals and dished 206 assists for a total of 410 points. He now has 147 even-strength goals, 52 power play goals, 5 shorthanded goals, and 42 game-winning goals in his career.
7. Clayton Keller (2)
CLAYTON KELLER HAT TRICK!!!
— NHL (@NHL) December 12, 2022pic.twitter.com/0zKUvLIohT
Clayton Keller of the Arizona Coyotes has scored two hat tricks so far this season. His first hat trick came against the Philadelphia Flyers on December 11, 2022. He scored on the power play 12:46 into the first period, 7:45 into the second period, and the game-winner 4:37 into OT. His team won in a 5-4 thriller.
Keller’s second hat trick of the 2022-23 season came against the Vegas Golden Knights (of all teams) on January 22, 2023. He scored just 1:39 into the second period and scored the final two goals of the game – 8:50 into the third period and an empty-netter 15:52 into the third period – to secure the 4-1 victory.
His two hat tricks this season are the first two hat tricks of his young career – the center will turn 25 years old in July. He has come close to scoring a hat trick numerous times, scoring two goals on 13 occasions. He should do it more often because his team is 2-0 when he scores a hat trick – and they don’t win often.
Keller is currently in the midst of his seventh season – all of which with the Coyotes. Through 419 career games, he has scored 120 goals and dished 192 assists for a total of 312 points. He now has 96 even-strength goals, 23 power play goals, 1 shorthanded goal, and 18 game-winning goals in his career.
6. Connor McDavid (2)
Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers has scored two hat tricks so far this season. His first hat trick came against the Vancouver Canucks on October 12, 2022 – the first game of the year. He scored 14:01 into the second period, 15:01 into the third period, and a power play empty-netter to secure a 5-3 victory.
McDavid’s second hat trick of the season came against the Chicago Blackhawks on October 27, 2022 – just 15 days after his first of the year. He scored 18 seconds into the second period, 8:28 into the second period (power play), and 10:16 into the third period (another power play). His team won in a 6-5 thriller.
His two hat tricks this season mark the 11th and 12th hat tricks of his young career – the center just turned 26 years old in January. His first career hat trick came on February 5, 2018 at just 21 years old. As you can likely imagine, his team is now 12-0 when he scores a hat trick – so keep them coming, Connor!
McDavid is currently in the midst of his eighth season in the NHL – all of which with the Oilers. Through 547 career games played, he has scored 287 goals and dished 523 assists for a total of 810 points. He has 214 even-strength goals, 67 power play goals, 6 shorthanded goals, and 61 game-winning goals.
5. Alex Ovechkin (2)
Just Alex Ovechkin (@ovi8) netting his 30TH (!!) career @Enterprise hat trick.
— NHL (@NHL) December 31, 2022pic.twitter.com/5hjEp8MBlx
Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals has scored two hat tricks so far this season. His first hat trick came against the Chicago Blackhawks on December 13, 2022. He scored the first two goals of the game – 24 seconds in and on the power play 8 minutes later. His third goal came 6:34 into the third period.
Ovechkin’s second hat trick came against the Montreal Canadiens on December 31, 2022 – just 18 days after his first of the year. He scored 9:06 into the second period, 1:22 into the third period (power play), and 16:35 into the third period – the final goal of the game. His team obliterated the Canadiens 9-2.
His two hat tricks during the 2022-23 season mark the 29th and 30th hat tricks of his legendary and iconic career – the left winger turns 38 years old in September. His first career hat trick came on Dec. 29, 2007 at 22 years old and he scored 4 goals on 4 occasions. His team is 29-1 when he scores at least 3 goals.
Ovechkin is currently in the midst of his 18th season in the NHL – all with the Washington Capitals. In 1,331 career games, he has scored 813 goals and dished 654 assists for a total of 1,467 points. He has 513 even-strength goals, 295 power play goals, 5 shorthanded goals, and 124 game-winning goals.
4. Mikko Rantanen (2)
MIKKO RANTANEN WITH THE HAT TRICK IN FINLAND
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) November 4, 2022pic.twitter.com/G4kMoqySdP
Mikko Rantanen of the Colorado Avalanche has scored two hat tricks so far this season. His first hat trick came against the Columbus Blue Jackets on November 4, 2022. He scored 35 seconds into the second period, 8:54 into the second period (power play), and an empty-netter with 1:04 left. His team won 6-3.
Rantanen’s second hat trick came against the St. Louis Blues on December 11, 2022 – just over a month since his first of the year. He scored 10:58 into the first period before tying the game 2-2 with 9 seconds left in the second period. His third goal was the game-winner, coming 29 seconds into the third period.
His two hat tricks of the 2022-23 season mark the fourth and fifth hat tricks of his young career – he turned 26 years old last October. His first career hat trick came on February 7, 2017 at just 20 years old – his second came at 23 years old and third came at 25 years old. His team is 5-0 when scoring a hat trick.
Rantanen is currently in the midst of his eighth season in the NHL – all with the Colorado Avalanche. In 465 career games played, he has scored 203 goals and dished 274 assists for a total of 477 points. He has 130 even-strength goals, 73 power play goals, 0 shorthanded goals, and 30 game-winning goals.
3. Mark Scheifele (2)
MARK SCHEIFELE HAT TRICK!!!
— NHL (@NHL) December 30, 2022pic.twitter.com/WxzyVMprGH
Mark Scheifele of the Winnipeg Jets has scored two hat tricks so far this season. His first hat trick came against the Vegas Golden Knights on December 13, 2022. He scored the opening goal 9:22 into the first period, 0:41 seconds into the third period, and with 2 seconds left in the game. Still, his team lost 6-5.
Scheifele’s second hat trick came against the Vancouver Canucks on December 29, 2022 – 16 days after his first. He scored a power play goal 13:52 into the second period, a power play goal with 3 seconds left in the second period, and an empty-netter with 28 seconds left in the game. His team won 4-2.
His two hat tricks of the 2022-23 season mark the sixth and seventh hat tricks of his career – the veteran center turns 30 years old on March 15th. His first career hat trick came on March 5, 2016, 10 days before his 23rd birthday. His team is now 6-1 when he scores a hat trick with the lone loss coming this season.
Scheifele is currently in the midst of his 12th season in the NHL – all with the Winnipeg Jets. In 702 career games played, he has scored 264 goals and dished 365 assists for a total of 629 career points. He has 193 even-strength goals, 69 power play goals, 2 shorthanded goals, and 40 game-winning goals.
2. Andrei Svechnikov (2)
That's the second @Enterprise hat trick of the season for Andrei Svechnikov (@ASvechnikov_37)!
— NHL (@NHL) November 11, 2022pic.twitter.com/IvCGVYLYRL
Andrei Svechnikov of the Carolina Hurricanes has scored two hat tricks so far this season. His first hat trick came against the Edmonton Oilers on October 20, 2022. He scored 1:38 into the second period, 12:35 into the second period, and 3:38 into the third period (power play). Unfortunately, his team lost 6-4.
Svechnikov’s second hat trick came against the same exact team – the Oilers – on November 10, 2022, about a month and a half after his first. He scored with 20 seconds left in the first period, 10:24 into the second period, and 15:49 into the third period. The Hurricanes got their revenge and won the game 7-2.
His two hat tricks during the 2022-23 season mark the first two hat tricks of his young career – the right winger will be turning 23 years old on March 26th. He has come close to scoring a hat trick on numerous occasions, scoring two goals in 14 games since 2019. His team is just 1-1 when he scores a hat trick.
Svechnikov is currently in the midst of his fifth season in the NHL – all with the Carolina Hurricanes. In 341 career games played, he has scored 110 goals and dished 150 assists for a total of 260 points. He has 87 even-strength goals, 23 power play goals, 0 shorthanded goals, and 16 game-winning goals.
1. Tage Thompson (4)
Tage Thompson led the way with a hat trick on Sunday.
— NHL (@NHL) February 27, 2023pic.twitter.com/HdzmBQuCpD
Tage Thompson of the Buffalo Sabres leads the league with four hat tricks so far this season. His first came against the Detroit Red Wings on October 31, 2022. He scored 16:52 into the first period, a power play goal 18:30 into the second period, and 15:58 into the third period. The Sabres won the game 8-3.
Thompson’s second hat trick came against the Columbus Blue Jackets on December 7, 2022 – he had a whopping five goals. He scored four goals in the first period – two of which were power play goals. It only took him 12:22 to score a hat trick. His fifth goal came 16:07 in the second period. His team won 9-4.
His third hat trick of the season came against the Washington Capitals on January 3, 2023. He scored a power play goal 17:29 into the first period, 5:50 into the second period, and finished his hat trick with the game-winning goal 3:00 into overtime. He also had an assist to open the scoring in the first period.
Most recently, his fourth hat trick came against the Tampa Bay Lightning on February 23, 2022 – just a few days ago. He scored a power play goal 9:36 into the second period, 12:20 into the second period, and 6:18 into the third period. He now has five hat tricks in his young career – he’s just 25 years old.
NHL Players Who Might Join This List Soon
NHL players are scoring at an incredible rate this season – the league is averaging 3.16 goals per game, which is the highest since the 1993-94 season (3.24 goals per game) – so there’s a very real chance that we see even more NHL players join the list above in the coming months. Let the scoring continue!
While there are 9 players on the list right now, there were 16 players on this list last season and a total of 102 hat tricks on the year. While we likely won’t see NHL players surpass that amount, I do believe we’ll see at least 4 more players join the list by the end of the year. Who knows, maybe there will be more.
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Some of those players who might do so include Jack Eichel, Dylan Cozens, David Pastrnak, Matthew Tkachuk, Jack Hughes, Jason Robertson, Kirill Kaprizov, Erik Karlsson, Zach Hyman, and Artemi Panarin. Each of those players already have one under their belt and most are in the top-20 in goals.
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