Weegar racks up first career hat trick as Flames topple Islanders 5-2

The Calgary Flames got 3 goals from defenceman MacKenzie Weegar Saturday afternoon, winning their fourth straight, 5-2 over the Islanders. (Photo: X@calgaryflames)

MacKenzie Weegar scored three goals, leading the Calgary Flames past the New York Islanders 5-2 Saturday afternoon in Elmont, New York.

Jakob Markstrom shut the door for the first two periods, allowing the Flames to jump to a 3-0 lead on a pair of Weegar goals and one by Jonathan Huberdeau.

After Brock Nelson cut the lead to 3-1, Islander coach pulled goaltender Semyon Varlamov with four minutes to go, while the Islanders were on a power play thanks to a too-many-men penalty to the Flames.

The move backfired however, as Blake Coleman scored to increase the lead to 4-1.

“We didn’t panic, we stuck with our game plan,” Huberdeau said. “Another game, Markstrom has been tremendous for us. It’s easier to play in front of a goalie that is making a lot of key saves. Everybody worked, everybody was going again, and it’s good to see.”

After Jean-Gabriel Pageau cut the lead to 4-2, Weegar sealed it with his third goal of the game, with under a minute to play.

“Until the last seven or eight minutes of the third period, it was a pretty complete game for us again,” Flames coach Ryan Huska said. “We had all sorts of contributions from different people so that was something that was important too. … This is a tough team, if you get behind on them, they make it really hard on you to be able to get back in games, so it was nice to be able to score first.”

It was Weegar’s first career hat trick.

“I never would have thought I would have a hat trick in the NHL,” Weegar said. “Credit to my teammates of course. We have just been playing great hockey. … It was a great night from everybody.”

The Islanders outshot the Flames 34-22.

The victory was the Flames'  fourth in a row.

Next up is a Monday night game at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers.

With files from The Associated Press