Steven Stamkos scored his 14th career hat trick and first as a member of the Nashville Predators on Saturday night en route to a 3-2 overtime win over the Chicago Blackhawks.
“I’ve said all year the effort has been there. It’s been a hard year on a lot of our veteran guys through the expectations we talked a lot about,” head coach Andrew Brunette said. “I thought he was a little bit down, our whole group was heading into the break losing some games. We came out and the first few games were okay… Last weekend it was easy to quit but credit to those guys, they kept fighting, and coming back and it’s nice to see them get rewarded.
“To see a guy get a hat trick and pass Mike Bossy at home in an overtime win, those are moments in the game you always remember and I’m really happy for him.”
His last hat trick came on April 9, 2024, against the Columbus Blue Jackets as a member of the Tampa Bay Lighting.
“In overtime, you’re feeling confident and you want to make plays and had a good look on the first chance then got a chance to get back out there,” Stamkos said. “I knew [Fedor Svechkov] was going to be looking for me there and [Spencer Stastney] made a quick play to get it up quick and Svech with a nice pass.”
HAT TRICK COMPLETED 🎩🎩🎩 pic.twitter.com/PcQdVrPBpJ
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) March 9, 2025
Blackhawks goalie Arvid Soderblom made a handful of solid saves to get the action started. Jonathan Marchessault was stonewalled after Filip Forsberg fed him a pass during a two-on-one. Then new addition Jakub Vrana fired a one-timer on net toward the end of the first Nashville powerplay.
The second frame started with two quick goals from either team. First, it was Blackhawks D-man Alex Vlasic who fired a shot from the blue line to make it a 1-0 contest.
Then Marchessault drew a double-minor on defenseman Alec Martinez and Steven Stamkos capitalized on the man advantage. Stamkos’ goal evened it up at one apiece. It was also his 574th career goal moving him into sole possession of 23rd place all-time passing Mike Bossy.
“It was an unbelievable performance from him, that’s why he’s a special player,” Marchessault said. “We came here and he was doing it the past 16 years and he’s still doing it. It’s all in his honor and we’re lucky to have him. I know how it is sometimes to get through adversity and you stick with it. Goal scorers will always be goal scorers so good for him.”
Stamkos wasn’t done in the third period as he notched his 20th goal of the season after Chicago captain Nick Foligno lost a rolling puck by the net. After having the puck on his stick for a split second, Stamkos rifled a shot to the top right corner making it 2-1.
The Blackhawks thought they tied it up approximately five minutes into the final stanza as defenseman Louis Crevier beat Justus Annunen five-hole. After a successful review from Nashville, it was deemed that Frank Nazar was ruled offside on the play keeping it a 2-1 game.
As Chicago was trying to get their offense going, forward Frank Nazar was hit alongside the wall by Justin Barron. Colton Dach took exception to the hit and initiated a fight. It was the first bout for both players in their NHL careers.
With seven minutes to play, the Blackhawks tied it up after Ryan Donato found Ilya Mikheyev for a one-timer in front of the net. Nashville’s defense let him slip through and get open on the play.
Nashville went to overtime for the 11th time this season and Stamkos completed his hat trick to win the game.
Svechkov found him in the extra frame and Stamkos laid into a one-timer to give Nashville a 3-2 win over the Blackhawks.
It’s Stamkos’ 14th career overtime game-winner as well with his last coming on Nov. 28, 2022, against the Buffalo Sabres.
Up Next
The Predators will head out west while the SEC basketball tournament is in Nashville. They’ll have stops in San Jose, Anaheim, and Los Angeles.
Pete Weber and Hal Gill will be on the call throughout the trip. Stay tuned right here for the action over the airwaves.
Follow Nick Kieser on Twitter/X: @KieserNick
Photos courtesy of Nashville Predators
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