Guentzel, Couturier get dueling playoff hat tricks for Penguins, Flyers

Jake Guentzel of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Sean Couturier of the Philadelphia Flyers became the seventh set of players on opposing teams to have a hat trick in the same Stanley Cup Playoff game on Sunday. Guentzel scored four consecutive goals and Couturier scored once in each period during Pittsburgh's 8-5 victory in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Wells Fargo Center.

It was the first time players on opposing teams scored three or more goals in a playoff game since April 17, 2010, when Andrei Kostitsyn of the Montreal Canadiens and Nicklas Backstrom of the Washington Capitals each scored three times in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Backstrom completed his hat trick by scoring 31 seconds into overtime for a 6-5 victory.
Related: [Guentzel stepping up again for Penguins in playoffs | Complete Penguins vs. Flyers series coverage]
The most famous occurrence of players on opposing teams each having a hat trick came one year earlier. On May 4, 2009, Alex Ovechkin of the Capitals and Sidney Crosby of the Penguins each scored three times in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Ovechkin's third goal proved to be the winner in Washington's 4-3 victory.

Trevor Linden of the Vancouver Canucks and Joe Sakic of the Colorado Avalanche each scored three times in Game 5 of the Western Conference Quarterfinal on April 25, 1996. Sakic scored his third goal of the game 51 seconds into overtime to give Colorado a 5-4 win.
On April 26, 1993, Ray Ferraro of the New York Islanders scored four goals in Game 5 of the Patrick Division Semifinals against Washington. But Capitals defenseman Al Iafrate had three goals, helping the Capitals to a 6-4 win.
Mark Messier's four goals helped the Edmonton Oilers overcome a hat trick by Calgary Flames defenseman Paul Reinhart in a 6-3 win in Game 1 of the Smythe Division Semifinals on April 14, 1983.
Messier and Reinhart were the first players on opposing teams to have hat tricks in the same game in 65 years. Before that, it hadn't happened since Game 2 of the 1918 Stanley Cup Final, when Mickey MacKay of the Vancouver Millionaires and Alf Skinner of the Toronto Arenas each scored three goals in Vancouver's 6-4 win.