History was made on Sunday night as the Ontario Reign had Akil Thomas, Quinton Byfield and Devante Smith-Pelly on the same line, forming the first all-Black line in professional hockey since the 1940s.
The Reign ended up winning the game, 5-4, in a shootout, and the new line combined for six points and all the goals in the game, but the win wouldn’t have been possible without Thomas’ late-game heroics.
Trailing 4-1 with less than five minutes in the game, something sparked Thomas and the Los Angeles Kings prospect netted a hat-trick in less than three minutes to force OT.
After the two teams went without a goal in the extra period, a shootout was needed and that’s when Thomas stepped up one more time for his team.
Thomas picked the perfect time to score his first career hat-trick as he put together a heroic performance to snag the win. The 21-year-old entered the game with three goals on the season, but doubled his total and his up to six goals and 11 points in 19 games.
