Calgary Flames Top 10: Johnny Gaudreau Moments
By Luke Ryan
Dec 22, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Calgary Flames defenseman Mark Giordano (5) celebrates with left wing Johnny Gaudreau (13) and teammates after scoring the winning goal in overtime against the Los Angeles Kings in the first period at Staples Center. The Flames defeated the Kings 4-3 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
What better team to score your first hat-trick against than the reigning Stanley Cup champions? Johnny’s first natural hat-trick spurred the Calgary Flames to victory against the Los Angeles Kings on December 22nd, 2014.
Once again showing what makes him such a special player, Gaudreau didn’t just choose to score on the reigning champions. He chose to notch three goals on Jonathan Quick in the Kings net; the final two coming in the final 2:12 of the third period.
Sportsnet summed it up in an article published the day after the game, opening with the line ‘In a city defined by Hollywood star power, Calgary Flames rookie forward Johnny Gaudreau showed the Los Angeles Kings why he might be the NHL’s next big thing.’
Obviously just the writings of a sports news website, but it’s pretty high praise to consider a label as the ‘next big thing’, regardless of its source. It’s praise reserved for the minority and not the majority.
The hat-trick officially marked Gaudreau’s arrival as a big game player, but by this point it seemed rather obvious that he was one already.
Unfortunately for Gaudreau, it wasn’t a first NHL hat-trick scored in front of the home Calgary Flames fans, but rather in Los Angeles. As a result, it was a long wait (almost a year, in fact) before he experienced hats thrown onto the ice in celebration of the fact.
Next: #2: This Game's Going To Overtime!