Four hat tricks, two four-point nights: the NHL’s October 15 standouts

Matt Boldy, Kirill Marchenko, Brady Tkachuk and Mark Stone each scored a hat trick on the NHL’s 11-game Thursday, October 15 schedule. Boldy and Buffalo’s Jack Quinn shared the night’s scoring high with four points, but the results separated performances that otherwise looked similar on the scoresheet.

Tkachuk needed all three goals to bring Florida back against Vancouver. Quinn’s two goals and two assists helped Buffalo overcome Marchenko’s three-goal game in Toronto. Boldy’s third became the winning goal after a late St. Louis rally, while Stone scored three straight in the third period as Vegas pulled away from Calgary.

Boldy and Kaprizov build a lead Minnesota needs

Boldy completed his hat trick before the second intermission in Minnesota’s 5–4 victory over St. Louis. He scored on eight shots, added an assist and contributed to four of the Wild’s five goals. Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and two assists, with the two forwards combining on three Minnesota goals during the second period.

The speed of Boldy’s response to a Blues equalizer mattered. Mason McTavish made it 2–2 at 4:57 of the second, and Boldy restored Minnesota’s lead 27 seconds later. Boldy then assisted on Kaprizov’s goal at 8:47 before Kaprizov helped set up the hat-trick goal at 16:47, making it 5–2.

The Blues made that cushion essential. Robert Thomas scored shorthanded with four minutes remaining, and Dylan Holloway cut the deficit to one with 15 seconds left. Cam Fowler assisted on both finishes and had three assists overall. Minnesota held on, leaving Boldy’s fifth regular-season NHL hat trick as the difference. He remains third in Wild franchise history behind Marian Gaborik’s nine and Kaprizov’s seven.

Marchenko’s milestone meets Quinn’s comeback

Marchenko’s first Toronto hat trick came in his 300th NHL game. He scored on all three shots in a 5–4 overtime loss to Buffalo, beginning with a between-the-legs power-play finish at 13:10 of the first period. Two more goals, at 11:13 and 16:51 of the second, gave the Maple Leafs a 4–2 lead.

The hat trick was Marchenko’s fifth in the regular season and brought his career totals to 106 goals and 217 points. He spent his first four NHL seasons in Columbus before this first Toronto campaign.

Quinn had scored Buffalo’s first two goals, tying the game at 1–1 and 2–2. He then became the passer in the recovery. His primary assist on Dennis Gilbert’s goal at 10:05 of the third cut the deficit to 4–3, and Mattias Samuelsson tied it 2:11 later. Quinn supplied the final pass on Owen Power’s winner at 3:14 of overtime.

Quinn’s four-point game involved him in four of Buffalo’s five goals. He also fought Troy Stecher in the second period, completing a Gordie Howe hat trick, the term for a goal, an assist and a fight in the same game. Buffalo’s eighth overall pick in 2020 had reached 20 goals and 51 points across all 82 games last season.

Tkachuk turns another hat trick into a rescue

Brady Tkachuk scored every Florida goal in a 3–2 overtime win over Vancouver. The Panthers trailed 2–0 until his first at 11:11 of the third period. He tied it in the final seconds with the goalie pulled, then scored the winner from the left circle at 2:23 of overtime. Seth Jones assisted on both the equalizer and winner.

Tkachuk had also scored three consecutive goals in Florida’s 7–3 win at Columbus two nights earlier. Those natural hat tricks gave him six goals and an assist over two victories. He joined Pavel Bure and Noel Acciari as the only Panthers with hat tricks in consecutive games. The latest NHL predecessor was Auston Matthews, who did it for Toronto in February 2024.

Jones now has six assists over those two games. Vancouver goalie Leevi Meriläinen made 36 saves on 39 shots, the highest save total among Thursday’s goalies. Florida’s Akira Schmid stopped all 10 shots he faced after the first period.

Stone finishes what Eichel and Barbashev create

Stone scored all three of his goals in the third period of Vegas’ 6–2 win over Calgary. The natural hat trick turned a 3–1 intermission lead into a 6–1 advantage. He needed only three shots, joining Marchenko in converting every shot on goal in a hat-trick performance.

Jack Eichel had a shorthanded goal and two assists, providing the final pass on Stone’s first and third goals. Ivan Barbashev had three assists, including helpers on the first two Stone goals. Stone’s power-play finish at 16:13 completed the hat trick, more than 15 minutes after his first goal of the period.

Stone also scored three in the 2023 Stanley Cup-clinching Game 5 against Florida, a separate postseason achievement from Thursday’s regular-season hat trick.

The other performances behind the results

Luke Hughes scored twice in New Jersey’s 7–1 win over the Rangers, his first NHL multigoal game. Both goals came in the second period, at 0:18 and 16:34. He had five shots in 24:58 of ice time. Evan Rodrigues added a goal and an assist, while Timo Meier, Brett Pesce, Dawson Mercer, Dougie Hamilton and Amadeus Lombardi each had two assists.

Brandon Hagel scored Tampa Bay’s first two goals in a 4–3 overtime win over Seattle. His first tied the game in the opening period, and his second put the Lightning ahead early in the second. Seattle twice drew level in the third, with Matty Beniers making it 3–3 at 15:41, before Victor Hedman won it at 2:07 of overtime.

Clayton Keller scored twice in Utah’s 4–2 win at Edmonton. His power-play goal made it 2–0 in the second period, and his empty-net goal with 28 seconds remaining completed the scoring. Between them, Logan Cooley answered Leon Draisaitl’s goal in 23 seconds to restore Utah’s two-goal lead. Cooley finished with a goal and an assist.

Neal Pionk contributed to every Winnipeg goal in a 4–3 overtime loss at Chicago, scoring once and assisting on Kyle Connor’s and Alex Iafallo’s goals as the Jets recovered from 3–1 down. Connor Bedard scored Chicago’s opening power-play goal and assisted on Artyom Levshunov’s winner at 1:37 of overtime. Spencer Knight made 31 saves for the Blackhawks.

Two narrower wins were settled by late execution. Andrew Copp broke a 1–1 tie at 15:22 of the third as Detroit beat Philadelphia 2–1. Ottawa’s Linus Ullmark made 20 saves before stopping all three Islanders shootout attempts; Shane Pinto supplied the only conversion in a 2–1 Senators win.

Alex Nedeljkovic made 32 saves on 34 shots as San Jose recovered for a 3–2 shootout win at Nashville. Steven Stamkos had tied the game at 19:59 of the third period after the Predators trailed 2–0. Nedeljkovic stopped all three Nashville shootout attempts, and Macklin Celebrini scored the deciding shootout goal.