NHL EDGE stats behind record 30 hat tricks in January

NHL.com's fantasy staff continues to cover the latest trends and storylines in the League through the lens of NHL EDGE puck and player tracker stats. Today, we identify key advanced metrics behind the League-record 30 hat tricks in January 2026.

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Alex Tuch’s hat trick for the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday marked the 30th across the NHL since January 1, 2026, setting a new League record for the most in a single calendar month.

The hat trick total for January 2026 surpassed December 1985 for the most games where a player has scored at least three goals. It was also the eighth straight day with a hat trick, tied for the second-longest streak in history behind a pair of nine-day stretches (April 3-11, 2021; Oct. 11-19, 1988).

Here are some highlights from this record-setting month of hat tricks, including key advanced stats storylines behind the performances:

• Of the 30 hat tricks in January, New York Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad was the only player to have multiple hat tricks in January 2026 (Jan. 2 against Florida Panthers in NHL Winter Classic; Jan. 17 against Philadelphia Flyers). It was the second time that Zibanejad had had multiple hat tricks in a single month (other: March 2021), and he became the first NHL player with multiple hat tricks in a single month during the regular season since Vegas Golden Knights forward Tomas Hertl in March 2025.

• Boston Bruins forward Marat Khusnutdinov had the only four-goal game in January 2026 against the Rangers on Jan. 10, and the Bruins were the only teammates in that span with two hat tricks in the same game (Pavel Zacha scored three goals on Jan. 10).

• There have also been four hat tricks by defenseman in January 2026, including three in a four-day span: Darren Raddysh of the Tampa Bay Lightning (Jan. 3 against San Jose Sharks), Evan Bouchard (Jan. 24 against Washington Capitals) and Mattias Ekholm (Jan. 26 against Anaheim Ducks) of the Edmonton Oilers and Rasmus Dahlin of the Sabres (Jan. 27 against Toronto Maple Leafs). Bouchard and Ekholm became the first defenseman teammates to have hat tricks in consecutive games in NHL history.

• The Sabres (Tage Thompson on Jan. 15, Dahlin and Tuch) and Oilers (Connor McDavid on Jan. 6, Bouchard, Ekholm) each had three hat tricks this month, tied for the most of any team.

• Three rookies had hat tricks in January 2026: Beckett Sennecke (Anaheim Ducks), Pavol Regenda (Sharks) and Justin Sourdif (Capitals).

• There have been two dueling hat tricks in January 2026: Regenda and Raddysh in the Sharks-Lightning game on Jan. 3 and Ekholm and Anaheim Ducks forward Mikael Granlund on Jan. 26.

NHL EDGE IQ METRICS:

• The highest Projected Goal Rate (PGR) on a goal scored as part of a hat trick this month (extremely high-probability attempt) was 51.69 percent (Tyler Bertuzzi’s overtime goal for Chicago Blackhawks against Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 4).

• The lowest PGR on a goal scored as part of a hat trick this month (extremely low-probability attempt) was 1.63 percent (Zibanejad’s first goal for Rangers against Flyers on Jan. 17).

NHL EDGE STATS INSIGHTS:

• Raddysh had the highest average shot speed on a hat trick this season (93.16 miles per hour against Sharks on Jan. 3). Raddysh’s first goal of the game clocked in at 89.70 mph, followed by speeds of 97.60 on his second goal and 92.19 on his third goal. It marked the highest average shot speed for a hat trick on record, topping Auston Matthews of the Maple Leafs (82.23 mph on Feb. 15, 2024).

• The highest average shot speed on a hat trick by a forward in January 2026 came from Anthony Duclair of the New York Islanders (79.95 mph against New Jersey Devils on Jan. 16). Duclair had the only natural hat trick of January 2026.

• Shot location breakdown for 91 total goals involved in the hat tricks during January 2026:

High danger: 37 (including 1 empty-net goal)
Mid-range: 34 (including 1 empty-net goal)
Long-range: 7 (including 1 empty-net goal)
Other regions: 13 (including 4 empty-net goals)

• Tuch had the only hat trick in January 2026 that featured goals from each of the three major shot locations; he scored one high-danger goal, one midrange goal and one long-range goal against the Kings on Jan. 29.

• Eight players scored all of the goals in their hat tricks from the same region of the ice:

Forwards Nikolaj Ehlers (Carolina Hurricanes), Alexandre Texier (Montreal Canadiens), McDavid and Regenda each scored three high-danger goals in a game during January 2026.

Forwards Dylan Guenther (Utah Mammoth), Owen Tippett (Flyers), Andrei Svechnikov (Hurricanes) and Thompson each scored three midrange goals in a game during January 2026.

Full list of NHL hat tricks in January 2026:

Jan. 1: Auston Matthews (TOR)
Jan. 1: Dylan Guenther (UTA)
Jan. 2: Mika Zibanejad (NYR)
Jan. 3: Darren Raddysh (TBL)
Jan. 3: Pavol Regenda (SJS)
Jan. 4: Tyler Bertuzzi (CHI)
Jan. 5: Justin Sourdif (WSH)
Jan. 6: Anthony Duclair (NYI)
Jan. 6: Connor McDavid (EDM)
Jan. 8: Alexandre Texier (MTL)
Jan. 10: Marat Khusnutdinov (BOS)
Jan. 10: Pavel Zacha (BOS)
Jan. 15: Tage Thompson (BUF)
Jan. 16: Ryan O’Reilly (NSH)
Jan. 16: Nikolaj Ehlers (CAR)
Jan. 17: Mika Zibanejad (NYR)
Jan. 17: Andrei Svechnikov (CAR)
Jan. 19: Marcus Foligno (MIN)
Jan. 22: Steven Stamkos (NSH)
Jan. 23: Owen Tippett (PHI)
Jan. 24: Evan Bouchard (EDM)
Jan. 24: Cole Caufield (MTL)
Jan. 24: Mason Marchment (CBJ)
Jan. 25: Brock Nelson (COL)
Jan. 25: Beckett Sennecke (ANA)
Jan. 26: Mattias Ekholm (EDM)
Jan. 26: Mikael Granlund (ANA)
Jan. 27: Rasmus Dahlin (BUF)
Jan. 28: Travis Konecny (PHI)
Jan. 29: Alex Tuch (BUF)

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