Mitch Marner broke a 69-year-old Rocket Richard record in the Stanley Cup Final

Mitch Marner recorded the fastest hat-trick since 1957 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, eclipsing the great Maurice 'Rocket' Richard in the process.

Marner was a man possessed in Game 3 for the Vegas Golden Knights, scoring a hat-trick in only 6:10. That alone would be impressive in the regular season, but the accomplishment put him in the history books ahead of Montreal Canadiens legend Maurice "Rocket' Richard, and broke a 69-year old record.

Mitch Marner breaks Stanley Cup record for fastest hat-trick and surpasses one of the greatest of all time

Marner scored his first goal of the game at 10:42 of the second period, then deposited his second of the game four minutes later (14:32). He sealed the deal less than two-and-a-half minutes later with his third of the game - an incredible feat no doubt.

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Granted he had a bit of help on the first goal, but the other two he made no mistake and cemented himself as not only a clutch playoff performer, but truly one of the best in the NHL despite all other chatter otherwise.

The player who left Toronto under so much criticism for being unable to perform has now broken a record set by a legend of the game, and has proven that all that backlash wasn't really warranted. Marner always had it in him, and fans can resent he didn't do it in Toronto but he's clearly capable.

Marner also had a chance for his fourth of the game when he had a penalty shot stopped by Brandon Bussi:

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But in terms of history making performances, this certainly needs to rank up with some of the best we've seen in modern times. A hat-trick in the playoffs alone is impressive, let alone one done in six minutes.

Comparing Marner's hat-trick to Richard's and why both are equally impressive

That hat-trick was the fastest hat-trick in Stanley Cup Final history, eclipsing a 69-year-old record held by Maurice Richard, who scored three goals 6:29 apart in Game 1 of the 1957 Final; Montreal won the Cup that year.

For context, Richard scored his first goal at 10:39 of the second - nearly identical to Marner. Then he scored at 13:29 and 17:00 (per Hockey Reference).

So while Richard scored the first of his two goals quicker, Marner managed to sneak in that third one a few seconds ahead of the 'Rocket'.

But you have to also understand the logistics of the game. Back then, Richard had no helmet, no protection, and literally was headhunted during his greatest years. The fact he managed to score in that short a span knowing that it was much easier to be taken out is testament to how good he was.

Marner's record-breaking performance is impressive still, but he did have help from Carolina's defence on the first one, and took advantage of his overpowered offence and protection to be able to thrive.

Both feats are equally astonishing and the fact that it took over 50 years for Richard's record to be broken shows that he was a force to be reckoned with that still holds power and influence to this very day.

But now the record books will have him second all-time for fastest hat-trick in the Stanley Cup Finals because that belongs to #93.

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