“I just tried to bank it off his butt”: Gaudreau nets hat trick for Flames

Turns out Johnny Gaudreau had a trick up his sleeve. 

As in, a hat trick. 

The Calgary Flames scoring sensation added Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Tampa Bay Lightning to his list of ever-growing exploits, netting a trio of goals to push his club to a 4-1 victory last night. 

And in the most mathematical of ways. 

Trigonometry, to be exact. Gaudreau covered all his angles.

Good morning, start your day by watching Johnny's hat trick vs. Tampa 🔥#Flames | @Enterprise pic.twitter.com/MXXMuJ8n0n

— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) March 11, 2022

“Just opportunities,” Gaudreau said. “On that first power-play goal, he was out of his net, he wasn’t on the post and I tried to bank it off his butt. The second one was just pure luck, I just threw it right back in front of the net and it went off his hip or something and then it bounced in.”

No word on if Gaudreau called “bank” before shooting.

His first, though, gave the Flames a 1-0 lead at 7:35 of the first period.

Banked that right off him. pic.twitter.com/VyCk3VNOzu

— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) March 11, 2022

His second came with exactly 60 seconds remaining in the second period, giving Calgary a 2-1 lead they wouldn’t relinquish in the final 21 minutes of the game. 

lol pic.twitter.com/E8vS8Wlm4S

— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) March 11, 2022

The third came on a more traditional play — a one-timer off a pass from linemate Elias Lindholm from the bottom of the right faceoff circle, prompting hats to rain down all over the ice in celebration and sealed the win. 

Chants of “JOHN-NY JOHN-NY” also rained down on the forward after completing the trick. 

“It’s awesome,” Gaudreau said. “It’s a really cool feeling. It’s an even cooler feeling when you’ve got all the fans chanting your name. It’s pretty special. I don’t take those for granted, it was a pretty cool moment.”

The moment, at least two-thirds, anyway, came courtesy of those butt bounces. 

But not something Gaudreau will credit to any one set course. 

“No, I didn’t do very good on any test in high school,” he said with a laugh.

[dh_you_might_also_laugh]