Kyle Okposo of St. Paul, Minnesota recorded his third career National Hockey League hat trick on Thursday. He accomplished the feat in a 6-3 Sabres win over the Detroit Red Wings.
Three goals against Detroit
Okposo put the Sabres up 3-0 at 11:21 of the second period from Zemgus Girgensons of Riga, Latvia, and Peyton Krebs of Calgary, Alberta. He then scored the game-winning goal at 14:02 of the second period from Tyson Jost of St. Albert, Alberta, to put the Sabres up 4-0. Okposo then closed out the scoring with an empty net goal at 16:22 of the third period from Dylan Cozens of Whitehorse, Yukon and Girgensons.
Third Sabre with a hat trick this season
Okposo is the third Sabres player and third American on the Sabres with a hat trick this season following right winger Alex Tuch of Syracuse, New York and Tage Thompson of Phoenix, Arizona. Tuch scored thrice in a 6-3 Sabres win over the Calgary Flames on October 20. Thompson scored three times in an 8-3 Sabres win over the Red Wings on October 31, and then five times in a 9-4 Sabres win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on December 7. It is interesting that two of the hat tricks recorded by a Sabres player this year came against Detroit, and the five goals scored by Thompson this season are the most by one player in a single game.
Two Prior Okposo Hat Tricks
Okposo’s two prior National Hockey League hat tricks came with the New York Islanders. The first one was in a 6-3 Islanders win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on January 16, 2015, and the second one was in an 8-1 Islanders triumph over the Edmonton Oilers on February 7, 2016. The first hat trick Okposo had with the Islanders was a four-goal game.
2022-23 NHL stats
In 2022-23, Okposo has six goals and 10 assists for 16 points in 26 games. He is a +5 with 12 penalty minutes, four power-play points, one game-winning goal, 56 shots on goal, 39 faceoff wins, nine blocked shots, 27 hits, 10 takeaways, and seven giveaways.
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