St. Louis Blues rising star Vladimir Tarasenko has one wicked wrist shot.
And it was on full display against the L.A. Kings on Tuesday. The 23-year-old Tarasenko recorded the hat trick and the Blues came back to defeat the defending Stanley Cup champions by a final score of 5-2, thanks to four goals in the third period.
The third goal was into an empty net. The other two were perfect wrist shots that beat Jonathan Quick. Tarasenko is now up to 20 goals in 31 games this season. That’s one off his career high of 21 from last season. He accomplished that feat in 64 games.
.@tara9191 scored goals 18, 19 & 20 to become the first @StLouisBlues player with 2 hat tricks in one season since Brett Hull in 1996-97.
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 17, 2014
The subject of goaltending was a contentious issue for L.A. Kings head coach Darryl Sutter afterward.
“I think that we’ve got to get a save in there somewhere. It’s frustrating,” said Sutter, as per LA Kings Insider.