Penguins forward Justin Brazeau’s true feelings on scoring 1st career hat trick in Blackhawks win

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Justin Brazeau achieved a major milestone Sunday, scoring the first hat trick of his NHL career in a resounding 7-3 win versus the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center.

Reacting to his achievement after the win, Brazeau expressed his excitement.

“Obviously a pretty cool feeling,” he said. “It’s been a long time since I had one of those, so it feels a little weird, but obviously a good feeling for me.”

The 27-year-old has been having a breakout season. Signed to a two-year, one-way NHL contract in the offseason, he now has 11 goals in 23 games, tying his career high set in 76 games last season. With seven assists, he has 18 points, improving on last season’s totals of 22 and 20 points in previous campaigns. His plus-minus rating of +3 demonstrates his growing two-way impact, an improvement from his -9 finish last year.

Brazeau’s milestone puts him in rare company. He is the fourth undrafted player in the past 30 years to record a hat trick for the Penguins, joining Chris Kunitz, Pascal Dupuis, and Evan Rodrigues.

The game got off to a fast start for Pittsburgh. Anthony Mantha opened the scoring at 1:38 of the first period on a turnaround shot after Chicago defenseman Wyatt Kaiser failed to clear the puck. Bryan Rust quickly followed with a wrist shot from the left circle, assisted by Sidney Crosby, to make it 2-0. Brazeau then scored his first goal at 8:20 after a pass from Mantha from behind the net, putting the Penguins ahead 3-0. Rust added his second of the period at 12:03, chasing Blackhawks goaltender Spencer Knight from the game and forcing a switch to Arvid Soderblom.

Brazeau’s second and third goals came in rapid succession in the second period. On the power play, he converted a forehand-backhand shot from a pass by Ben Kindel to make it 5-1 at 12:20. Just 57 seconds later, he tipped a shot from Connor Dewar to complete the hat trick, giving him three goals on three shots for a perfect shooting night. Brazeau’s scoring contributed to Pittsburgh’s best offensive output of the season, a welcome boost after a challenging stretch in December that saw the team go 1-5-4 over 10 games.

Other contributors for the Penguins included Rust with two goals, Mantha with a goal and an assist, Ryan Shea with three assists, and Noel Acciari and Blake Lizotte adding insurance points. Sidney Crosby recorded an assist, giving him 1,726 career points and tying him for ninth on the NHL all-time road points list with Gordie Howe.

Chicago, meanwhile, extended their losing streak to seven games. Nick Foligno, returning from a 19-game absence due to injury, scored Chicago’s first goal, while Tyler Bertuzzi and Wyatt Kaiser added late scores. Pittsburgh goaltender Arturs Silovs stopped 21 of 24 shots to ensure the win.

The post Penguins forward Justin Brazeau’s true feelings on scoring 1st career hat trick in Blackhawks win appeared first on ClutchPoints.