Those of us who were lucky enough to be at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on Thursday night witnessed something that can only be described as spectacular.

Oct 10, 2013; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos (91) skates during the first period against the Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Times Forum. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

As if the Tampa Bay Lightning defeating the in-state rival Florida Panthers by a score of 7-2 wasn’t enough, the fans in Tampa got to witness something that they haven’t seen in quite some time; a hat trick comprised of three completely different types of goals.

Stamkos’ first goal of the night was a shorthanded one. At that particular moment in time, Richard Panik sat in the box for 2 minutes for High Sticking, Stamkos and St. Louis made their way down the ice, and Stamkos was able to fire off a shot that made its way between the pipes with assists from the captain Martin St. Louis and defenseman Victor Hedman.

About halfway through the next period, Stamkos would strike again; this time at full strength. The assists on this goal came from assistant captain Matt Carle and left wing Ryan Malone.

The icing on the puck shaped cake came at 12:25 in the third period while Panthers center Jesse Winchester sat in the box for 2 minutes for Hooking, Stamkos was able to make his way down the ice and knock in another, bringing the Bolts up 7-2 with the assists from Sami Salo and Teddy Purcell.

In case you didn’t have the privilege of seeing this live, or even on television, here is a piece by piece look at Steven Stamkos’ hatty from Thursday night at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

Next, the Tampa Bay Lightning continue their 7-game home stand tonight against Evgeni Malkin and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

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