Throwback Thursday: On this day in 1985, Edmonton Oilers Wayne Gretzky sets NHL record with 34th career hat trick

On this day in 1985, none other than Wayne Gretzky set an NHL record for hat tricks by notching his 34th career hat trick.

The feat came in a 6-4 win against the LA Kings. The record was previously held by Mike Bossy, who scored his 33rd only two months earlier.

Gretzky got his first goal of the game 46 seconds into the first period, before adding his second at the 13:42 mark of that same frame. The hat trick goal, his 72nd of the year, came on an empty net with only eight seconds left in the game.

Gretzky and Bossy went back and forth in terms of their hat trick scoring, but with Wayne playing 10 seasons more than Mike, there’s no surprise Wayne hold the overall record.

Throughout his 20 campaigns, Gretzky ended up piling a whopping 50 hat tricks. Wayne, too, holds the record for most hat tricks in a total season scoring 10 hat tricks in a season twice in his career.

The first came in 1981-82, and the second in 1983-84.

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