The once red-hot Florida Panthers had a dreadful start to Wednesday’s game against the Calgary Flames, and Sam Bennett -- he’s just 19 years old, remember -- made them pay.
Bennett recorded the hat trick, the first of his career, in the opening period, giving him nine goals on the season. He busted out of an 18-game scoring drought on Monday.
The Flames grabbed a 4-0 lead over the Panthers, currently on a six-game road trip and coming off an OT loss in Vancouver to halt their winning streak at 12 games, in the first period. Calgary also held a 15-5 lead in the shots-on-goal department.
Update: Roberto Luongo was pulled after the first period. Al Montoya began the second period in the Florida net.
.@NHLFlames forward @SBennett93 registered his first career multi-goal game by scoring a hat trick in the first period of #FLAvsCGY.
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 14, 2016