Tampa Bay Lightning player secures hat-trick in unbelievable way
Brayden Point (center) celebrates scoring against the Washington Capitals.
(CNN) — Tampa Bay Lightning star Brayden Point scored the fifth hat-trick of his NHL career in bizarre fashion on Thursday during his team’s 5-4 loss to the Washington Capitals.
Point was awarded his third goal of the game at Amalie Arena when Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren tried to play the puck behind him but instead put it into his own net. The error did not prove costly, however, as Tom Wilson put the Caps ahead with a power-play goal late on in the third period.
“I kind of chuckled to myself,” Lindgren told reporters after the game. “It was obviously the worst make I’ve probably ever made in terms of on ice … I don’t know what I was thinking. The guys picked me up and I’ve got a lot of respect for those guys.”
Lindgren went on to play a crucial role in the Caps’ win by making every save after his gaffe midway through the third frame, finishing with 25 saves in total.
“Mistakes happen in the game,” said Point. “He kind of threw it in there but he made some great saves down the stretch.”
Tampa Bay had led for much of the game behind Point’s early goals and one from Michael Eyssimont, but Andrew Mangiapane, Aliaksei Protas and Dylan Strome all scored for the Capitals.
With the game tied at 3-3, Point’s hat-trick gave the Lightning the lead before John Carlson and Wilson put the Capitals in front. They move to 15-6-1 on the season, while the Lightning are 11-8-2.
“I thought tonight, both teams probably deserved a point … everything was pretty much even,” Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper, who was coaching his 900th NHL game, told reporters afterwards.
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