Bedard, Celebrini become second pair of NHLers 20 or under to record hat tricks on same night

Two of the young studs in the NHL inadvertently combined to make history on Tuesday night.

Chicago Blackhawks forward Connor Bedard and San Jose Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini both potted hat tricks in their respective games, marking just the second time in the league’s 108-year history that two players, age 20 or younger, have scored three goals on the same day.

The first time it happened was on Feb. 19, 1944, when Toronto Maple Leafs teammates Jack Hamilton and Bud Poile combined for seven of the team’s goals in a 10-4 thrashing of the Boston Bruins.

Bedard was the first to pot his hatty, notching an empty-net goal to cap off the Hawks’ 5-2 win over the Calgary Flames.

It was the 20-year-old’s second hat trick of the season and of his career. Bedard now has seven goals over his past five games, having totaled 22 points over his last 11 appearances.

Celebrini accomplished his feat a couple of hours later, doing so in a more solo fashion. He accounted for all three of the Sharks’ goals against the Utah Mammoth, including the overtime winner.

Celebrini had scored twice in the first six minutes of the game as well. It was also the 19-year-old’s second three-goal performance of the season, and third of his young NHL career.

With the performance, Celebrini now has 30 points in 20 games. He joins Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, as well as Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, as the only teens to score 30 points in the first 20 contests of a season.

It was quite the memorable night for the two first-overall picks, who are part of the game’s next wave of stars. If they keep scoring like they did last night, they might just be playing in Italy in a couple of months as well.