Joel Kiviranta has hilarious response to his second career hat trick

The Colorado Avalanche defeated the Seattle Kraken by a score of 5-2 on Sunday evening, and it would have been a nail-biting finish until the clock hit all zeroes if it weren’t for Joel Kiviranta. Kiviranta finished the game with three goals, equaling a hat trick and triggering fans to throw their hats onto the ice, as tradition for any home-ice hat trick performance.

It was Kiviranta’s second-career hat trick, and when Kiviranta was interviewed after the game, as each home-ice number one star is, he hilariously brought up his actual first career hat trick, which happened to be in the postseason, in an elimination game. Against the Colorado Avalanche.

Several years ago, when Kiviranta was with the Dallas Stars, he put up an incredible performance that eliminated the Avalanche in the postseason. It also happened to be a Game 7. To me, those would be some of the most difficult losses a team could have. You put all of your sweat and energy into trying to advance to the next stage of the playoffs, only to lose in the very last game of a long series.

Those are very unfortunate losses and ones that will stick with you forever. Those wins will also stick with the victorious forever, as evidenced by Kiviranta. At the end of the day, that specific game is long in the past. It hurts for the players who weren’t on the team when the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in 2022, but again, what’s done is done.

It’s also a cool fact that Kiviranta had family in town for Sunday night’s game, who got to see him play in person.

For a player who doesn’t necessarily play a whole lot of minutes in every game, getting another hat trick to add to his résumé definitely made Kiviranta feel good. He now has 10 goals and two assists in 36 games, and his 12 points on the season are a career-high for him. He will have plenty of chances to increase his statistical performance for the season and blow away his past seasons.