William Karlsson records his third career NHL hat trick

Vegas Golden Knights center William Karlsson of Marsta, Sweden recorded his third National Hockey League hat trick on Sunday as the Golden Knights defeated the Anaheim Ducks 6-5 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Karlsson scored the Golden Knights’ third, fourth and fifth goals of the game.

Karlsson put the Golden Knights up 3-2 with 57 seconds left in the second period from Mark Stone of Winnipeg, Manitoba and Max Pacioretty of New Canaan, CT. Karlsson then put Vegas up 4-3 from Chandler Stephenson of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and Alec Martinez of Rochester Hills, MI at 6:28 of the third period. Then, the Golden Knights went up 5-3 when Karlsson notched his hat trick from Reilly Smith of Mimico, Ontario and Stone.

Even though Karlsson led the Golden Knights in goals during the game, he did not lead the team in points. That is because Stone had four assists for four points. Martinez and Pacioretty also had multi-point games as Martinez had one goal and one assist for two points and Pacioretty had two assists.

It was a memorable game for Patrick Brown of Bloomfield Hills, MI and Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore of Langley, British Columbia. Brown scored his first goal with the Golden Knights and only his second goal ever in the NHL. While, Theodore scored in overtime.

In 56 games this season, Karlsson had 13 goals and 27 assists for 40 points. He is a +7 with 16 penalty minutes, seven power play points, five shorthanded points, one game winning goal, 119 shots on goal, 442 faceoff wins, 36 blocked shots, 36 hits, 47 takeaways and 35 giveaways. Karlsson’s two previous NHL hat tricks came in a 6-3 Golden Knights win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on December 31, 2017 and in a 4-0 Golden Knights win over the Calgary Flames on March 18, 2018.

The Golden Knights are currently in first place in the Pacific Division with a record of 34 wins, 22 regulation losses and eight losses in extra time for 76 points. They currently have a three point lead on the second place Edmonton Oilers.