Utah Mammoth centre Nick Schmaltz of Madison, Wisconsin recorded his second National Hockey League career hat trick on Friday. He accomplished the feat in a 6-3 Mammoth win over the San Jose Sharks at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Inside look at the three goals
Schmaltz scored the only two goals of the hockey game in the first period. His first goal was on the power play at 9:39 of the first period. It was an all-American goal as Logan Cooley of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Clayton Keller of Chesterfield, Missouri recorded assists.
Schmaltz’s second goal was even strength at 13:31 of the first period to put the Mammoth up 2-0. Keller had the lone helper. Then at the 54 second mark of the third period, Schmaltz scored from only Keller again. This time, it was the game-winning goal and put the Mammoth up 4-2.
Four-point game
Schmaltz added an assist for a four-point game. He also helped set up Keller to put the Mammoth up 6-2. Like Schmaltz, Keller had a four-point game as well as he had one goal and three assists.
First career NHL hat trick
Schmaltz’s first career NHL hat trick came on January 26, 2023 in a 5-0 Arizona Coyotes win over the St. Louis Blues. The players in the Coyotes organization moved from Phoenix to Salt Lake City prior to the 2024-25 NHL season.
Schmaltz for the season
In only five games, Schmaltz has three goals and four assists for seven points. He was a +3 with two penalty minutes, two power-play points, one game-winning goal, 22 shots on goal, nine faceoff wins, one hit, two takeaways, and seven giveaways. Schmaltz’s two takeaways came in a 3-2 Mammoth win over the Nashville Predators on October 11, and his hit came in a 3-1 Mammoth win over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday.
Schmaltz currently leads the Mammoth in goals with three. Interestingly, he scored his first three goals of the entire season on Friday. Schmaltz also leads the Mammoth in points, and shots on goal. Schmaltz is also tied with Keller for the team lead in assists and power-play points.
Reason for the low attendance
General hockey fans may be surprised that only 12,478 were in attendance. That is because there are renovations currently going on at the Delta Center. When the renovations are fully completed, 17,000 fans will be able to watch NHL hockey.
