Wagner's hat trick

Ex-Minnesota State defenseman Steve Wagner scored 12 goals in his three-year college career. As a professional, goal-scoring hasn't been his forte either. But Saturday night Wagner did something even some pure goal scores haven't done: He had a natural hat trick. Wagner scored three goals in the first period of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins' 6-3 win over the Norfolk Admirals in the American Hockey League playoffs. The game closed out the series, and Wagner's team advanced to the East Division Finals.

Wagner said it was his first hat trick since high school in Grand Rapids.

"I was thinking when I got to the bench, 'Man, I only had five goals all year and I have three in one period,'" he told the Scranton Times-Tribune. "It definitely wasn't what I was looking for, but I'll take it." Read more of that story here.

Wagner left MSU after the 2006-07 season. Since then, he has played five professional seasons, including 46 NHL games in 2007-08 and '08-09 in St. Louis. He was traded midway through the 2009-10 season and has spent all of this season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, the top AHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins. During the regular season, Wagner had five goals and 23 assists and was +16 during the regular season this year.