TAMPA, Fla. _ Steven Stamkos continues to demonstrate why he is one of the best goal scorers in the NHL.
He scored his ninth career hat trick and the Lightning extended its win streak to seven games with a 6-3 win over the New York Rangers on Monday. Stamkos, who has seven points in the last two games, also passed 700 points in his career. And did it in only his 696th career game.
Of those seven points, five were goals. It's not just how many goals he's scoring, but how he is doing so. The one-timer is still Stamkos' bread and butter. He's also scored a handful of goals while falling to the ice, as he did on his second Monday.
The first goal was classic Stamkos: a one-timer from the left circle on the power play. The second came from the same spot on the opposite end of the ice, but he got off an impressive shot while going to the ice. It wasn't flung on net, but had real power behind it despite not having his feet under him. The third was another power-play goal, and another one-timer, this time from the slot.
