ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — John Carlson played 1,156 regular-season games and 137 more Stanley Cup playoff contests in his 17 NHL seasons before he finally got his first hat trick.
The steady defenseman would never list a three-goal game as a true aspiration, but Carlson was still thrilled to do it Thursday night — particularly because it came in a vital victory for his new team's playoff aspirations.
The 36-year-old Carlson said he literally couldn't remember his last pre-NHL hat trick after he fired three goals past the San Jose Sharks during the Ducks' 6-1 win, which snapped a six-game losing streak and greatly improved Anaheim's chances of ending its seven-year postseason drought.
“I’ve seen a lot (of hat tricks) in my day, and always was a little bit jealous,” Carlson said with a grin.
Indeed, Carlson witnessed plenty of multigoal barrages during his long tenure with the Washington Capitals. That'll happen when you play nearly 17 seasons alongside the greatest goal-scorer in NHL history: Alex Ovechkin has 34 career hat tricks, including 26 since Carlson's debut with the Caps as a teenager in late 2009.
But Carlson has been a steady contributor on both ends of the ice throughout his NHL career, and he had been a major factor for his new team in Anaheim even before his third goal sealed a big win. His shot sent a shower of hats onto the Honda Center ice with 5:57 to play in celebration of only the fourth hat trick by a defenseman in Ducks history, and the first since 2018.
“It was great,” Carlson said. “I’ve obviously always wanted one. I think it was a good game to do it in, a home game. The crowd was great tonight from puck drop, and I think we just kept feeding on that and played a really good game.”
Carlson became the third defenseman in NHL history to record a hat trick after his 36th birthday, joining Mathieu Schneider and Nicklas Lidstrom, who was 40 years old when he accomplished the feat on Dec. 15, 2010. Only Lidstrom (1,442) played more games among NHL defensemen than Carlson before getting that inaugural trick.
Carlson has 12 points in 13 games since joining the Ducks, who acquired him at the trade deadline to shore up the back end on one of the league's worst defensive teams. Carlson has overcome the first jersey change of his NHL career and the midseason disruption of his family's life to fit in well on the West Coast, providing much-needed veteran poise while improving the Ducks' mediocre power play, which produced his two third-period goals.
“He comes in and he’s an amazing player,” said center Leo Carlsson, who opened the scoring with an impressive drive to the net for his 28th goal. “Great person, too. He helps us a lot, so nothing but amazing things to say about him.”
After his hat trick, Carlson has 14 goals this season between Washington and Anaheim, three off his career high from the 2021-22 season.
Carlson got his first goal against the Sharks in the first period on a 97.47 mph slap shot — the hardest shot that resulted in a goal for the Ducks all season long.
He scored two more power-play goals 3 1/2 minutes apart in the third period, both on heavy shots. Anaheim's power play had been 1 for 15 over the previous four games, dropping to 25th in the league.
“I thought he’s got the presence to shoot from the top,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “He’s got good play recognition, and the power play needed that.”
Two days after the Ducks were booed off the ice by their home fans during a 5-0 loss to Nashville, they dominated the rival Sharks — another young, hungry team with playoff aspirations.
Anaheim's victory left it in third place in the Pacific Division with 89 points, but just one behind Edmonton up in first place, where the Ducks had been for a full month before dropping back in the past week.
With just three games left, Carlson is confident the Ducks can pick up enough points to get him to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the 15th time in a career that included a championship in 2018.
“Building that mentality, reaching back for a picture or a memory of (good) starts, those things are all good to have at this point in the year,” Carlson said.
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