Timo Meier entered the Sharks' game against the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night three goals shy of tying his career-high of 30 in a season, and the Sharks' lone 2021-22 All-Star wasted no time reaching that plateau.
Meier netted his third career hat trick in the Sharks' 4-1 win over the Ducks at SAP Center, punctuating the feat with a gorgeous goal on a pass from Tomas Hertl.
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Even after his first goal of the night in the second period, Meier didn't sense that a hat trick was on the horizon.
"Not really," Meier told Randy Hahn and Bret Hedican on Sharks Postgame Live on NBC Sports California after the game. "Just try to go out there and make a difference whatever way you can. On the power play, we had some chances and it was time to capitalize. And the third goal was on a really nice pass from Tomas and it just kind of worked out and put it in the back of the net."
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Not only will Meier set a career-high for goals soon, but he's one point shy of matching his most in a season (66 in 2018-19).
The Sharks (29-28-8; 66 points) have 17 games remaining this season, so Meier will set the bar pretty high for himself.
"Timo was skating well and when he's shooting the puck like he is, and even a couple plays he made on the power play we didn't score on early in the game, some high-end things, it's nice to see him get rewarded," Sharks coach Bob Boughner told reporters after the game. "He has had a great season and he's not stopping."
Boughner also credited a reshuffling of the lines, putting Meier, Hertl and Alexander Barabanov on the top line, for sparking the 25-year-old forward.
"He went a little dry there on 5-on-5 goals for a while," Boughner said. "We switched lines up and put him and [Tomas Hertl] back together. And I think since that's happened, that's been good for Timo. I think they sort of feed off each other. You have Barby, who's a playmaker on the other side that gets the puck to those guys in speed. I think all three of those guys complement each other, there's a lot of chemistry there and I think that's sort of has been a little bit of the turnaround."
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Coming off a season in which he only scored 12 goals in 54 games, Meier has bounced back in a big way, proving that he can be the centerpiece of this Sharks team for years to come.