Justin Brazeau was a little hazy on the details of his first professional hat trick.

For instance, he wasn’t quite sure of how many goals he even scored.

“Did I score four that game?” Brazeau said. “I don’t remember a lot about it. I just remember doing it.”

What Brazeau did was score four goals more than half a decade ago while skating in the ECHL. As a member of the now-defunct Newfoundland Growlers, he put a quartet of pucks into the net in a 9-1 road win against the Jacksonville Icemen.

And he largely never displayed that offensive touch again for the next five years, at least within the confines of a game.

Then, in the final days of 2025, he did it again, this time as an NHLer.

During the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 7-3 road win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 28, Brazeau erupted for three goals.

That offensive outburst has been the centerpiece of a marvelous campaign for Brazeau who has already established career highs in goals (14) and points (24) in only 36 games while largely serving as a middle-six winger.

For an undrafted player who broke into professional hockey at the ECHL level, reached the NHL in his mid-20s and never topped more than 11 goals in his first two NHL seasons, it’s safe to say nobody expected this of Brazeau entering the 2025-26 campaign.

With the possible exception of Brazeau.

“I always believed in myself to get to this point,” Brazeau said in Cranberry on Jan. 7. “I don’t think I take too many things as such a surprise.”

Brazeau’s confidence is evident. But there are certainly more prominent traits to the power forward.

First, at 6-foot-6 and 234 pounds, he’s roughly the size of a home appliance that requires a 240-volt outlet.

And he’s not just a large body on skates.

“Me and him came (to the team’s facilities) a little bit early in August,” said Tommy Novak, occasionally Brazeau’s center this season. “We were like the only two here. We skated together there for a while. I just noticed he’s huge, obviously. Then, he’s got good skill for a big guy. He’s impressed me (with) his IQ and the way he talks with his teammates at the bench, talks with his linemates too. He’s a smart player.

“I didn’t know much about him before but he surprised me.”

The Penguins signed Brazeau on July 1 as an unrestricted free agent, agreeing to a two-year contract with a frugal salary cap hit of $1.5 million.

The expectations — externally, at least — were that Brazeau could compete for a bottom-six role, just given his massive dimensions and modest offensive figures as a member of the Boston Bruins and Minnesota Wild.

But curiously, Penguins coaches placed him on the second line in training camp with franchise pillar Evgeni Malkin at center and Anthony Mantha, another offseason addition, at the left wing.

That union held true as the regular season started and it bore marvelous results as Malkin set up Brazeau for the team’s first goal of the campaign during an impressive 3-0 road win against the New York Rangers on Oct. 7.

Brazeau later scored on an empty net in that contest.

His hot start carried through October as he posted 12 points (six goals, six assists) in 12 games. He might have carried that momentum into November but an undisclosed injury sidelined him for the entire month and into December.

His return to the ice in early December largely coincided with Malkin suffering a left shoulder injury that waylaid him well into January.

Surely, without Malkin, Brazeau’s offense would dry up, right?

While he hasn’t been quite as prolific as he was in October, Brazeau has generated 12 points (eight goals, four assists) in his past 24 games since returning to the lineup Dec. 7. Over that span, only first-liners Bryan Rust (10) and Sidney Crosby (nine) have more goals among Penguins players.

(Were it not for a handful of goals being wiped out by video reviews, Brazeau might have reached a career high sooner this season.)

Much of Brazeau’s ice time since his return has come with Novak or rookie Ben Kindel as his center. Meanwhile, Mantha has remained a constant. According to Natural Stat Trick, Brazeau and Mantha have logged 332:25 of common five-on-five time.

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Like Brazeau, Mantha is a large human at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds.

Their similar dimensions have translated into chemistry. Mantha has assisted on seven of Brazeau’s goals this season, while Brazeau has registered eight helpers on goals by Mantha.

“Me and him like to play it very similarly,” Brazeau said. “Whenever we get pucks in certain spots, it’s easy to know where he’s going to be because it’s a spot that I think I would go myself. We try to feed off each other. He’s a big body. Makes a lot of good plays. I’ve just got to get to the right spot and get open.”

Seeming, the only spot for Brazeau to go is to the net, just given his size and limited speed.

But he’s not just taking up space near the crease and getting deflections off a leg or his backside. He is displaying touch in tight areas.

That aptitude near the blue paint comes, in part, through some experience as a blue liner.

“I’ve always had decent hands,” Brazeau said. “I’ve kind of been the big kid who wasn’t the fastest my whole life. I’ve never really had to be told to go to the net. It’s something that, since I was a kid, I always just liked to be there. I used to play (as a defenseman) a little bit as a kid and I liked that aspect, even of defending, getting in front of the net and clearing out. It’s always been in my game to go there. Obviously, the more you do it, the better you get at those in-tight plays. Because you have to.

“At this level, (the game) is so fast that is you’re not able to make a quick little play in tight, it’s gone in a second. It’s something I’ve always done.”

One thing Brazeau has done as a professional before is reach the 20-goal mark.

At the ECHL ranks.

He scored 27 goals in 57 games for the long-gone Growlers in 2019-20, the same season in which he potted his first hat trick (plus one).

Brazeau, who turns 28 on Feb. 2, would like a repeat performance but isn’t necessarily focused on any specific goal figure this season.

“Obviously, it would be a pretty cool thing to get to, but I’ve tried not to set numbers for myself,” Brazeau said. “Last year, I had 10 (goals) through 40 games, and I think I only ended up with 11. So, I know how quickly bounces can go different ways. But obviously, it’s a goal of mine to get to that number.

“It would be pretty cool to do that. I’m not trying to limit myself. I think I can do more than that. I just want to try to keep playing the right way.”