Tha Carter IV
Jeff Carter produces the first four-goal game of his career
"I asked him in front of the group if he had ever had a four-goal game before," Sullivan said. "I'm fairly certain he had a number of hat tricks during his tenure as an NHL player, he's just too good of a goal scorer (laughs).
"But I wasn't sure if he ever had a four-goal game, and he said no, he hadn't, this is his first. So, we'll make sure we give him the team puck tonight."
Carter said he did get the pucks from his third and fourth goals, along with the player of the game helmet - which was incredibly well-deserved after the night he had.
The 36-year-old forward produced not only the first four-goal performance of his career, but the first one from a Penguins player during the regular season since Chris Kunitz also did so on Feb. 3, 2013 at Washington. Carter is now two away from 400 for his career.
"It's hard to score goals in this league, never mind four," Sullivan said. "It doesn't happen very often. It's a huge accomplishment. He had a terrific game for us. His line had a terrific game for us."
Carter's line with left wing Jared McCann (1G-2A) and right wing Frederick Gaudreau (3A) combined for five goals and 10 points in the game. Afterwards, Carter was at somewhat of a loss for words to explain what was behind their offensive explosion.
"I don't know what happened out there, to be honest with you," he said with a laugh. "The puck kind of was following me all night, really all three of us. Just lucky to get that first one to go in, and then it just kind of snowballed from there."
Carter had to wait a minute before getting officially awarded that first one at the 9:57 mark of the first. He went down on one knee to release a shot from the bottom of the circle, and the puck bounced over the goal line, but Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen quickly swept it out and play continued on.
After a stoppage, video review determined what everyone here already knew - it was a good goal. From there, the floodgates opened.
"It's great," Gaudreau said. "This guy played so many games in the NHL, he's a big veteran and he was saying that it was his first four-goal game. So for sure it happens rarely, but it's always exciting. It's so fun. And it feels like the more you score, the more you feel like another one is coming, so it was awesome to be part of."
Carter's second goal came shortly after, while he was out with the second power-play unit. It was a beautiful tic-tac-toe passing play that started with Kasperi Kapanen passing down to a front-facing Jason Zucker. He quickly dished it off to Carter at the top of the crease, who redirected it past Sabres goalie Michael Houser for the score.
On the third tally, Marcus Pettersson - who's been displaying some soft hands the past couple games - took a feed from Gaudreau and then made a nice one of his own to a crashing Carter at the crease, who buried it at the 4:36 mark of the second.
"I've had a few hat tricks before, so I guess when you get three, you hope that you get four," said Carter, who had six career hat tricks entering the game. "I had quite a bit of time left after the third one, so I was kind of pushing for it, for sure."
The fourth and final goal came 3:02 into the third. After winning an offensive-zone faceoff, Carter went straight to the net-front and remained in the vicinity as the Penguins held possession. McCann ended up threading a short little pass to Carter, who took it from his forehand to his backhand and shoveled the puck into the net.
"Tonight was pretty incredible, what he did out there," Kris Letang said. "Shows how pure of a goal scorer he is."
Carter now has eight goals in 13 games since being acquired by the Penguins at the trade deadline from Los Angeles, where he had eight goals in 40 games with the Kings.
When the deal was first announced, Penguins general manager Ron Hextall - who has a long history with Carter dating back to their time in Philadelphia - and Sullivan
were adamant that he would be a terrific addition
to the group. They couldn't have been more right.
"We thought he could help us offensively," Sullivan said. "We knew we could still shoot the puck and score goals and bring a 200-foot game. So we felt strongly that he was going to make us a better team. … We couldn't be happier with how well he's fit into the group here, both on and off the ice."
The feeling is mutual from Carter himself.
"It's been a great transition," he said. "I think from Day 1, the guys have been great to me. Welcomed me into the room and just make me feel comfortable. Family-wise, it's been really easy. My wife's from the area, so that's helped out a lot, and we're really looking forward to keeping it going here."
