San Jose Sharks winger Timo Meier scored a franchise record 5 goals in his team’s 6-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. The 6th year forward accomplished the feat in only two periods of play and was ultimately stymied in the third despite having a few chances.
The NHL record for goals in a single game is 7, set by Joe Malone back in 1920. There have been 7 players to score 6 goals in a game over the years (Darryl Sittler, Red Berenson, Syd Howe, Cy Denneny, Corb Denneny, Joe Malone x2, Newsy Lalonde), though no one had done it since Sittler in 1976.
47 players have scored 5 goals in a game before on 63 occasions with New York’s Mika Zibanejad being the last to accomplish the feat back in 2020. Making the feat even more impressive is the fact that Meier required only 6 shots on the afternoon to reach the 5 goal plateau.
The first time All-Star was helped by Tomas Hertl’s 4 assists on the day and Erik Karlsson’s 3 helpers as well. Meier is currently in the 3rd year of a 4 year contract signed back in 2019. He currently carries a cap hit of $6M per season and was rumoured to be on the trading block earlier this season.
San Jose currently holds the final wildcard spot in the West, though they’ve played significantly more games (40) to date than several of the teams chasing them. The Sharks will be an interesting team to watch heading into the trade deadline, currently set for March 21st. Should they stumble over the next few weeks, Meier could be a name that resurfaces as potential trade bait.
The 25 year old Swiss winger currently leads the Sharks with 45pts (20G, 25A) in only 35GP and would command a hefty return owing to his age and remaining years of team control on the open market. Meier’s best season came back in 2018-19 where he posted 66pts (30G, 36A), though he is well on his way to eclipsing those marks this year.
San Jose is next in action on Thursday against the Seattle Kraken.