The biggest knock on Vegas Golden Knights forward Mitch Marner during his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs was that he was not a big-game player and did not play his best when the lights were brightest.
He is obliterating that narrative in the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs.
He entered Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Carolina Hurricanes as the league’s leading scorer this postseason, and then added to that total with a historic second-period outburst.
It included a natural hat trick that set a Stanley Cup Final record.
Mitch Marner records fastest hat trick in Stanley Cup Final history
Marner scored three consecutive goals in the second period, making him just the second player to record a natural hat trick (three consecutive goals by the same player) in a single period in Stanley Cup Final history.
Even more impressive, he scored them in just 6:10 of clock time, making it the fastest hat trick in Stanley Cup Final history.