Scoring a hat trick is an impressive accomplishment.
Although rare, players who notch three goals in a game draw attention to their professional scoring ability.
Scoring three goals in your hometown is an even sweeter version of a hat trick. When you play in your hometown, there are friends and family in the crowd who are excited to see you play.
Just ask William Nylander.
On Feb. 4, the Toronto Maple Leafs forward put three goals past Calgary Flames rookie goaltender Dustin Wolf. Nylander’s magic helped the Leafs extinguish the Flames with a final score of 6-3.
The hat trick came with a deeper meaning for Nylander. He was born in Calgary, which meant some of his friends and family were there to see him.
In addition, Nylander’s three-goal night came exactly 8 years to the day of his first career NHL hat trick.
“I had no clue, but it’s pretty insane. I mean, [being] born here and scoring my second-career hat trick eight years after my first one is pretty wild,” Nylander told reporters after the game with a smile on his face
“I didn’t really expect that to happen maybe tonight. I mean, I’ve had a lot of other games where I had two goals and not been able to score, so it’s nice it finally went in.”
On the first goal, Nylander broke out his lethal shot to score on the power play. Meanwhile, the second goal came off an odd-man rush where he skated down the wing to put it past Wolf’s glove side.
The third goal was an empty netter, where Nylander muscled Flames defenseman Mackenzie Weager off the puck in the neutral zone.
The three-goal night helped propel Nylander up the NHL scoring charts, bringing his goal total from 30 to 33. Going into the Four Nations break, the Swede sits second in the league in scoring, trailing Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl.
Draisaitl has 40 goals in 55 games this season.
“We have a huge following, the best fans in the league,” Nylander told reporters about the familiarity brought by the Leafs fans in Calgary. “So, the support we get wherever we play is tremendous. To see those hats come down is special.”
Despite the fanfare around the hat trick, many have questioned Nylander’s nationality.
He was born in Calgary when his father played for the Flames in the 1990s. However, the Leafs forward identifies as Swedish as his father was born in Sweden. He chooses to represent the Scandinavian nation on the world stage instead of Canada. That would make him a dual citizen.
Other past or present NHL players in the same boat as Nylander are Alex Galchenyuk, a dual citizen of Russia and the United States and Drake Batherson who was born in the States but chose to represent Canada internationally.
Just over a week before Nylander’s hat trick, Columbus Blue Jackets forward Adam Fantilli did the same thing to the Maple Leafs.
Fantilli had a full-circle moment on Jan. 27.
That day, he scored his first career NHL hat trick in front of friends and family.
Fantilli grew up in Toronto, playing his youth hockey for the Toronto Jr. Canadiens and the Toronto Jr. Red Wings. Both are part of the Greater Toronto Hockey League, the largest minor hockey program in Canada.
He was drafted third overall in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft after playing for the University of Michigan Wolverines.
“It means the world to be able to do that in front of my friends and family,” Fantilli told reporters after the game. “I’m super grateful that they all came out and I was able to pull that one off.”
Fantilli’s mother, Julia, was the first person to throw her hat on the ice after her son slid the puck into the empty net to seal the hat trick.
“I’m just trying to keep chipping away at becoming a better player. I’m not there yet and I’m going to keep working toward that, but I’m really grateful for the people that have taught me this season and last.”
Nylander and Fantilli are both goal scorers. Given the rarity of hat tricks, the players may not achieve the feat again in their NHL careers and even less likely in front of a hometown crowd.
