Mitch Marner’s natural hat trick in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final Saturday night was just one part of a historic box score.
The Golden Knights’ 5-4 win over the Hurricanes in double overtime in front of their home crowd in Vegas was an instant classic filled with record-setting action and events never before seen in a series with Lord Stanley on the line.
In the second period, Marner lit the game on fire shortly after Tomas Hertl gave Vegas a 1-0 lead on the power play.
The former Maple Leaf scored the fastest three goals by a single player in Cup Final history, requiring just six minutes and 10 seconds to beat a record previously held by Maurice “Rocket” Richard from 1957 (6:21).
Since he also assisted on Hertl’s goal, Marner became only the second player in NHL Finals history — joining Frank Foyston (1919) — to post four points in a single period.
The 29-year-old is also just the second player in history to record a natural hat trick in a single period at this point in the playoffs, joining Ted Lindsay (1955). After this latest performance, Marner leads the playoffs by a considerable margin with 28 points (10 goals, 18 assists) in 19 games.
He is considered the frontrunner for the Conn Smythe Trophy as the NHL playoff MVP.
“Well, I think a lot of guys made great plays to set me up,” Marner told reporters after Vegas took a 2-1 series lead Saturday night. “I think you need five guys on the ice to all be on the same page. And I thought our line did a really good job of that throughout the entire night.”
The hat trick and the 4-0 Vegas lead stood as the game’s only notables for a very short time.
Carolina saw to that by setting a new record for the fastest three goals scored by a team in the final. Jordan Martinook, Taylor Hall and Jordan Staal each struck within 39 seconds to pull the Hurricanes within one goal less than eight minutes into the third period, smashing the previous record of 56 seconds set by the Canadiens in 1954.
The equalizer came off the stick of Andrei Svechnikov while on the power play later in the frame.
Saturday was ultimately the highest-scoring Game 3 in Stanley Cup Final history.
In addition to the nine goals, two Vegas scores were overturned in the second period. The play on Mark Stone’s goal was deemed offside and goaltender interference disallowed Jack Eichel’s goal.
