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The Buzzer: Vrbata records the hat trick; Quick shuts out Habs

Florida Panthers v Philadelphia Flyers

PHILADELPHIA, PA - OCTOBER 17: Radim Vrbata #71 of the Florida Panthers skates in front of Ivan Provorov #9 of the Philadelphia Flyers during the first period at Wells Fargo Center on October 17, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Player of the night: Radim Vrbata

Radim Vrbata started the season by going eight games without a goal, but the Florida Panthers forward emphatically snapped that drought on Thursday, recording the hat trick in his team’s 8-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks.

A few hats and a few plastic rats littered the ice after Vrbata’s third goal, as he collected a loose puck and outwaited Reto Berra with a move to the forehand.

That’s the seventh hat trick of Vrbata’s career.

Highlight of the night:

Nikita Kucherov to Steven Stamkos. This goal is a thing of beauty.

Factoid of the night:

Jonathan Quick continued his strong start to the season in net for the L.A. Kings. He stopped all 40 shots he faced Thursday in a shutout victory over the struggling Montreal Canadiens. Oh, and he did so in his 500th career NHL game.

“The guys all knew it was his 500th game, and I told the guys after the game that might be one of the best goaltending performances I’ve ever seen,” said Kings coach John Stevens, per LA Kings Insider.

Scores:

Vancouver 6, Washington 2

Boston 2, San Jose 1

Carolina 6, Toronto 3

NY Rangers 5, Arizona 2

Pittsburgh 2, Winnipeg 1 (OT)

L.A. 4, Montreal 0

Ottawa 5, Philadelphia 4

Tampa Bay 3, Detroit 2

Florida 8, Anaheim 3

Minnesota 6, NY Islanders 4

Edmonton 5, Dallas 4

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Cam Tucker is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @CamTucker_Sport.