Marchenko’s first Toronto hat trick comes in NHL game No. 300

Kirill Marchenko scored on all three of his shots in his 300th NHL game, completing his first Toronto Maple Leafs hat trick in a 5–4 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday, October 15.

His goals gave Toronto leads of 2–1, 3–2 and 4–2. The last two came 5:38 apart in the second period, taking him from two goals for the season to four before the second intermission. He finished with three points in 18:36 of ice time.

Three different finishes

Marchenko opened his scoring on the power play at 13:10 of the first period. John Tavares passed to him near the crease, where Marchenko received the puck with his back toward the net, brought it between his legs and reached his stick through to lift a shot past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Darren Raddysh also earned an assist.

The second goal came from farther out. At 11:13 of the second, Marchenko moved across the left faceoff circle and beat Luukkonen with a wrist shot inside the far post. Tavares again received the primary assist, his second helper on a Marchenko goal.

Colton Sissons supplied the third at 16:51. Sissons sent the puck out from behind the net to Marchenko at the top of the crease, and Marchenko finished the pass to complete the hat trick. Easton Cowan earned the secondary assist as Toronto extended its lead to two.

Game No. 300 with a new team

Marchenko played his first four NHL seasons with Columbus, the club that selected him 49th overall in the second round of the 2018 draft. He finished the 2025–26 regular season with 27 goals and 40 assists for 67 points in 76 games for the Blue Jackets.

Thursday brought his fifth career hat trick. His regular-season totals through the final horn stood at 106 goals and 111 assists for 217 points in 300 appearances.

Buffalo erased the two-goal deficit in the third period. Dennis Gilbert scored at 10:05, and Mattias Samuelsson tied it at 12:16. Jack Quinn, who had scored Buffalo’s first two goals, assisted on Gilbert’s goal and then set up Owen Power’s winner at 3:14 of overtime. Quinn finished with two goals and two assists as the Sabres scored the game’s final three goals.