A Gordie Howe hat trick is one player’s goal, assist and fight in one game. It is not an official NHL stat. Gordie Howe himself had only two, in 1,767 NHL games.
In the NHL, every player who fights gets a major penalty under Rule 46.14. Team game notes tie the feat to that fighting major.
Jack Quinn of the Buffalo Sabres did it on 15 October 2026 at Toronto. He scored twice, fought Troy Stecher and added two assists.
The Gordie Howe hat trick checklist
One player has to tick all three boxes in the same game. In the NHL, the order does not matter if he stays in the game:
- A goal. Any goal counts, in the regular season or the playoffs. A shootout winner does not, because Rule 84.4 keeps it out of his stats.
- An assist. He is one of the last two teammates to touch the puck before a goal, with no opponent playing it in between (Rule 78.3).
- A fight. He fights and gets a major for fighting (Rule 46.14). A first major lasts five minutes (Rule 20.1), and a roughing minor alone does not count.
Is it an official NHL stat?
No. In 2010, NHL.com called it an unofficial stat. It said no one kept count until The Hockey News started in 1996.
Teams still note it. Columbus game notes on 7 March 2026 credited two players with one, and each had a fighting major in the third period.
The goal and the assist add points
The goal and the assist each add 1 point to his line. Our guide to what a point is in hockey shows how assists are given.
What kind of fight counts?
A fight counts when it draws a fighting major. Under Rule 46.1, a player who keeps punching an opponent, or trying to, is fighting.
Two players who wrestle so hard the linesmen struggle to part them are fighting too. Our guide to why fighting is allowed in hockey covers the rest of Rule 46.
Does roughing count?
No. Rule 51.1 calls roughing a minor altercation that is not worthy of a major penalty. So a roughing minor alone leaves the third box empty.
On 31 December 2025, Tom Wilson of Washington fought Sam Carrick of the Rangers. Carrick also got a roughing minor, which put Washington on the power play, Capitals.com reported.
Wilson had scored before the fight. He scored again late in the game and set up an empty net goal. It was his third Gordie Howe hat trick in the NHL.
Fights that end his night
Some fights bring a game misconduct, and then his night is over. This table shows what each kind of NHL fight brings:
| What happened | Penalty | Does the fight count? | Can he keep playing? |
|---|---|---|---|
| A regular fight | Fighting major, 5 minutes (Rules 46.14 and 20.1) | Yes | Yes, after 5 minutes |
| He is called the instigator | Instigator minor, fighting major and a 10 minute misconduct (Rule 46.11) | Yes | Yes, after his penalties |
| He is called the instigator in the last 5 minutes or in overtime | Instigator minor, fighting major and a game misconduct (Rule 46.12) | Yes | No |
| He kept punching an opponent who could not defend himself | Fighting major and a game misconduct (Rule 46.2) | Yes | No |
| It is his third major of the game | Automatic game misconduct (Rule 20.4) | Yes | No |
| Roughing only | Roughing minor (Rule 51.2) | No | Yes |
A game misconduct still comes with the fighting major, so the fight counts. The goal and the assist must already be on the sheet.
Olympic games
IIHF games, such as the Olympics, are stricter. IIHF Rule 46.1 gives a player who fights a major and an automatic game misconduct.
So in an Olympic game, the fight has to come last. IIHF Rule 46.2 lets the referee waive that game misconduct for a player who only defended himself.
Does his night count?
Add what one player did, in order. See which hat tricks he earned and if he stayed in the game.
Gordie Howe’s own two
Gordie Howe had only two of the feats named after him, NHL says. Both came against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1953 to 1954 season, NHL.com reported in 2010.
This table shows Howe’s two nights, as NHL.com describes them:
| Date | Goal | Assist | Fight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 October 1953 | Scored a goal | Set up a Red Kelly goal | Fought Fernie Flaman |
| 21 March 1954 | Scored the opening goal | Set up two Ted Lindsay goals | Fought Ted Kennedy |
One every 884 games
Howe’s rate works out like this:
- He played 1,767 NHL games over 26 seasons, NHL.com says.
- He had 2 Gordie Howe hat tricks in those games.
- 1,767 divided by 2 is about 884.
- So he had about one for every 884 NHL games.
Why it carries his name
We could not find an official page that names who first used the term. An older Capitals.com page says the team is not sure who coined it, or when.
Howe scored 801 NHL goals and served 1,685 penalty minutes, NHL.com says. That older Capitals.com page says Howe “apparently had only one,” on 22 December 1955. NHL.com’s later pages say two.
Howe also played his last NHL game at 52 years 11 days. The oldest NHL players ever list starts with him.
Who has the most Gordie Howe hat tricks?
We could not find an official all time list. In 2010, NHL.com gave Brendan Shanahan 17, from The Hockey News records.
Shanahan passed Rick Tocchet, who held the lead for a while, NHL.com says. This table shows the counts that official pages give, with their dates:
| Player | Count | Official page |
|---|---|---|
| Brendan Shanahan | 17 | NHL.com, January 2010 |
| Rick Tocchet | 9 with the Flyers, a team record | Flyers.com, November 2020 |
| Tom Wilson | 3 in the NHL | Capitals.com, December 2025 |
| Gordie Howe | 2 | NHL.com, 2010 and 2016 |
Why the counts disagree
NHL.com calls it unofficial. No one kept count until The Hockey News started in 1996, NHL.com said in 2010.
An older Capitals.com page called the record keeping spotty. Shanahan himself said he had “never heard of it until I’d had quite a few of them,” NHL.com reported in 2010.
Shanahan’s goals and penalty minutes
The Hockey Hall of Fame lists Shanahan with 656 goals and 2,489 penalty minutes. It calls him the only NHL player past 600 goals and 2,000 penalty minutes.
Recent Gordie Howe hat tricks
Official league and team pages logged these recent Gordie Howe hat tricks:
| Date | Player | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| 15 October 2026 | Jack Quinn, Sabres | Two goals, a fight with Troy Stecher and two assists in a 5 to 4 overtime win at Toronto |
| April 2026, playoffs | Brandon Hagel, Lightning | The first playoff one in Lightning history, in Game 2 of the first round against Montreal |
| 7 March 2026 | Mathieu Olivier and Damon Severson, Blue Jackets | Both did it against the Utah Mammoth, the first time two Blue Jackets did it in one game |
| 31 December 2025 | Tom Wilson, Capitals | His third in the NHL, in a 6 to 3 win over the Rangers |
Jack Quinn’s night, minute by minute
The NHL game summary shows Quinn’s night in order. He scored at 3:35 of the first period and 2:41 of the second.
His fight with Stecher came at 15:53 of the second. Both players got 5 minutes for fighting. Quinn then set up a third period goal and Owen Power’s overtime winner.
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said after the game: “Had an unbelievable fight. Sort of. We’ll give him the Gordie Howe Hat Trick on that one.”
Can two teammates do it in one game?
Yes. Olivier and Severson both did it for Columbus on 7 March 2026. Team notes called it the first time in franchise history.
Playoff Gordie Howe hat tricks
Gabriel Landeskog had one in Game 1 of the 2021 first round against St. Louis. He fought Brayden Schenn, scored and set up two Nathan MacKinnon goals.
It was Colorado’s first in the playoffs since Mike Ricci’s in 1997, the Avalanche said.
Hat trick, natural hat trick and Gordie Howe hat trick
NHL.com uses the three names for three different nights. Each one asks for something else:
- A hat trick is three goals by one player in a game.
- A natural hat trick is three goals in a row, with no other goal in between.
- A Gordie Howe hat trick is a goal, an assist and a fight in one game.
The 15 October 2026 game had two kinds. Toronto’s Kirill Marchenko scored three goals for a hat trick.
It was not a natural hat trick. Quinn’s goal at 2:41 of the second period came between Marchenko’s first and second goals.
Before you go
Is a Gordie Howe hat trick an official stat?
No. NHL.com calls it unofficial. The Hockey News began keeping a count in 1996.
How many Gordie Howe hat tricks did Gordie Howe have?
Two, NHL.com says. They came on 11 October 1953 and 21 March 1954, both against Toronto.
Who has the most Gordie Howe hat tricks?
As of 2010, NHL.com said Brendan Shanahan led with 17 in The Hockey News records. We could not find a newer official count.
How rare is a Gordie Howe hat trick?
NHL.com called it “unusual but not rare” in 2010. By late January of that season, nine NHL players had one.
Does the fight have to come last?
Not in the NHL, where a first fighting major lasts five minutes. In Olympic games, a fight brings an automatic game misconduct, so the goal and the assist must come first.
Take your shot
A player scores, then is called the instigator of a fight with two minutes left in the third. He has no assist yet. Can he still finish a Gordie Howe hat trick?
Pick one to take your shot.
Checked against NHL Rules 46.1 and 46.14
IIHF Official Rule Book 2026 to 2027
NHL.com, Gordie Howe obituary
Hockey Hall of Fame, Brendan Shanahan
Checked October 2026
