William Nylander on scoring a hat-trick exactly 8 years apart – Source: Imagn

William Nylander scored a hat trick in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 6-3 win against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday, remarkably exactly eight years after he scored his first career hat trick on Feb. 4, 2017, in Boston.

The game was played in Nylander’s 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡place of Calgary at Scotiabank Saddledome.

When asked about the coincidence, Nylander said postgame via NHL.com:

“I had no clue. That is pretty insane.”

The 28-year-old was 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 in Calgary while his father, Michael Nylander, played for the Flames.

On playing in Calgary, he added:

“Yeah, obviously it is super special. Born here and scoring my second career hat trick. Eight years after my first one, it’s wild. Really a special one.”

William Nylander has been on a hot streak lately, with nine goals in his last eight games. His hat trick puts him at 33 goals on the season, just four behind league leader Leon Draisaitl.

“It was nice,” Nylander said on scoring the hat trick. “I didn’t really expect that to happen maybe tonight. I had a lot of other games where I’ve had two goals and not been able to score. It was nice it finally went in.”

John Tavares, Matthew Knies and Bobby McMann also scored for the Maple Leafs in the win. The Flames got goals from Matt Coronato, Yegor Sharangovich and Joel Farabee.

Joseph Woll made 23 saves on the night while Dustin Wolf stopped 24 shots in the loss.

Maple Leafs on William Nylander’s hat trick

Leafs coach Craig Berube praised William Nylander’s lethal shot and ability to hang onto pucks.

“That last goal was a hard puck battle. Good job by him with the goalie out. Sealed the game,” Berube said via Yahoo Sports.

Goaltender Joseph Woll joked about Nylander scoring on him in practice.

“I was just laughing as yesterday in practice, he scored on me like every time he shot on me. So as soon as he got the puck on the 2-on-1, there’s no question he was going to score,” Woll said.

Teammate Bobby McMann marveled at how Nylander makes scoring look easy.

“He makes it look easy every time. It’s crazy. Sometimes he just holds that shot, or just finds those little spots just above the pad or below the glove,” McMann said.

Rookie Matthew Knies also complimented William Nylander’s finishing ability as Nylander capitalized on every opportunity.

Nylander and the Maple Leafs face the Seattle Kraken next at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday.