Stamkos scores hat trick, 500th goal in Lightning win against Canucks

VANCOUVER -- Steven Stamkos scored a hat trick, including his 500th NHL goal, for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 5-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Wednesday.

Stamkos put Tampa Bay ahead 1-0 with his milestone goal at 4:40 of the first period, one-touching a backdoor pass from Alex Killorn past a sprawling Spencer Martin, then celebrating in the corner as teammates raced off the bench.
"It's such a humbling experience when you have a moment like that and you get to celebrate it with your teammates, who are genuinely just as excited as you are," Stamkos said. "I'm so thankful for them."

Stamkos is the 47th player in NHL history to score 500 goals and the third active, joining Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin (810) and Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (538). He is also the 23rd to do it with one NHL team.
"To do it in a win too where everyone is in a good mood is just icing on the cake," Stamkos said.
Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov each had a goal and an assist, Killorn had two assists and Brian Elliott made 37 saves for the Lightning (29-13-1), who have won five straight games, including two against Vancouver.
"The game is kind of the afterthought," coach Jon Cooper said. "We got two points out of it, but as a coaching staff am I happy we won? Yes. Not really happy the way we won. We got that four-goal lead and then we just sat back for two periods. 'Stammer' is the highlight of the night but you've got to tip your cap to Brian Elliott because he kept us in the way it was down the stretch."
Quinn Hughes had a goal and an assist, and J.T. Miller had two assists for the Canucks (18-23-3), who have two wins in their past 10 games.
"We made a lot of mistakes right off the bat and before you knew it, they've got four," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "That's the kind of team you can't make mistakes [against], and they were relatively crazy mistakes or easy mistakes, giving pucks away."
Kucherov made it 2-0 at 8:28 with an unchecked one-timer from the right face-off circle after a cross-ice pass from Brandon Hagel, and Point converted a rebound from the edge of the crease to make it 3-0 at 13:18.
Stamkos scored his second at 14:35 to increase the lead to 4-0, taking a cross-ice pass from Killorn coming out from behind the goal and cutting back across the crease to tuck his 20th goal of the season into the empty net.

It's the 13th time Stamkos has scored 20 goals in a season, passing Vincent Lecavalier for the most in Lightning history.
"The thing that made me probably the most proud is what he said to the team after the game, and how he thanked everybody," Cooper said of Stamkos. "I've watched that kid grow into a man, a phenomenal leader, and to be honest, he's a generational goal scorer. That's what he is, and those guys don't come around that often. Enjoy him while you can. I've been extremely fortunate to enjoy him put that puck in the net hundreds of times. Good for him, well deserved."
Martin was pulled after allowing four goals on 10 shots and replaced by Collin Delia, who made 14 saves in relief.
Andrei Kuzmenko deflected a Hughes point shot on the power play to cut it to 4-1 at 6:35 of the third period, and Hughes scored on a solo rush on another power play at 9:10, finishing with a backhand deke in tight to make it 4-2.
"I think we were angry," Boudreau said of the difference after the first period. "And I think we're a non-quitting team, win or lose."
Stamkos completed his 11th NHL hat trick into an empty net at 18:38 for the 5-2 final. After receiving a standing ovation from the Vancouver crowd for his 500th goal, Stamkos wasn't surprised to see the ice littered with hats after his third.
"The thing that's going to stick out too is obviously the goal, but just the reception I got from the crowd," Stamkos said. "That's something as a player that sticks with you for a long time when you're on the road and you get that type of reception."
NOTES: Stamkos extended his point streak to six games and 10 points (four goals, six assists). Killorn has six points (two goals, four assists) on a four-game point streak, and Hagel has seven points (two goals, five assists) on a five-game point streak. … Hughes has nine points (three goals, six assists) during a five-game point streak. … Horvat had an assist to extend his NHL career-long point streak to nine games (10 points; four goals, six assists). … Vancouver is 5-15-1 against teams from the Eastern Conference this season. Tampa Bay is 14-4-4 against the Western Conference.