After failing to stay in the National Hockey League in his first five professional seasons, the minor league scorer changed his game. Sherwood learned to check and hit. He used his speed and hockey IQ to make himself a formidable opponent.

But Sherwood never neglected his offensive skills. He never forgot how to score.

On Monday, the undisputed winger from Columbus, Ohio, the league’s undisputed leader in goals, scored his first NHL hat trick at age 29 and scored all the goals in the Vancouver Canucks’ 3-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche.

It was a stunning turnaround for the Canucks from Saturday’s 5-1 loss to the Boston Bruins, when Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet questioned the emotional commitment of “four or five” guys, to their most impressive performance of the season .

Perhaps it’s a starting point for the Canucks to emerge from their months-long streak of inconsistent and sometimes infuriating hockey. But it certainly felt like an arrival for Sherwood, who already has a career-high (in the NHL) with 11 goals in 30 games and took in the sound of a sellout crowd roaring his name on Monday.

“I just tried to take it all in, having the whole arena (singing). . . This is what you dream about as a child,” he said. “These are the moments that you work for and that you just manifest and visualize. So I’m really thankful and thankful.”

He was hoping that’s exactly what might happen when Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin, impressed with how wildly and effectively Sherwood played against Vancouver in the first round of the playoffs last spring, set his sights on the Nashville Predators’ free agent.

In an autumn marked by inconsistencies and the market’s usual turbulence and extremism, Sherwood was one of the most consistent and reliable players.

So far, he appears to be a spectacular bargain after betting on himself and Vancouver on a two-year deal worth $1.5 million per season.

“From the conversations I had with my agent, they had a vision for me,” Sherwood said after his main press blitz had dissipated. “Whatever team had a vision, that’s where I wanted to go. I was just looking for an opportunity. That sold me.

“I just focused on the opportunity – trying to get a chance. I mean, that’s all you can ask for when you’re a minor. There are a lot of great players in the (American Hockey League), but if you don’t get the opportunity, sometimes you can’t show it. I just tried to take advantage of that opportunity and from there I think you can use whatever skills and tools you have.”

The player who leads the league in goals with 184, the same player who scored 68 goals in 109 AHL games during parts of his final three seasons in the minors, showed every facet of his game against the Avalanche.

Sherwood scored first at 16:14 of the first period, capping one of those all-in, puck-winning, board-steaming plays that Tocchet had called for.

Sherwood protected the puck along the boards from two Avalanche players and then passed it to Pius Suter, who made an excellent pass to Danton Heinen at the top of the net. Heinen was narrowly stopped by Colorado goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, but Sherwood followed up and made two shots on the puck to score on the rebound.

This goal was full of strength and hard work. His next attempt was pure skill.

With the Avalanche on the power play late in the second period in a 1-0 game, Sherwood anticipated Nathan MacKinnon’s pass at the Canucks’ blue line. With Colorado defenseman Cale Makar slightly wrong-footed by the turnover, Sherwood pushed the puck forward and outran one of the NHL’s fastest players before firing a wrist shot into the top corner behind Blackwood at 15:04 and provided the breakaway goal.

He completed his hat trick by firing a post-and-in shot into an empty net from his own blue line with 2:35 minutes remaining.

And “Kie-fer Sher-wood!” Kie-fer Sher-wood!” rang out from the pews of Rogers Arena like a Christmas carol.

“You win games with people like that, so this was a great addition for us,” Conor Garland said. “He fought his way through (the minors), he went through a lot. So it’s cool. Like many people here who made it to the minors, went undrafted or were passed over, they enjoy every day and respect this league. They’re always fun to be around.”

What would have been a near-perfect comeback game for the Canucks was only slightly marred by Avalanche Valeri Nichuskin’s six-on-five goal with 46 seconds left. As a result, Thatcher Demko was unable to score a shutout in the third game after suffering a serious knee injury.

Demko finished with 30 saves. The Garland, JT Miller and Brock Boeser line nullified the MacKinnon line for the Avalanche, and Canucks center Elias Pettersson was in full swing, scoring a few goals, winning puck battles and face-offs and putting four shots on goal.

The Canucks’ penalty takers killed the Avalanche’s power play for eight minutes. MacKinnon, the NHL’s leading scorer, did not receive a point.

“I think everyone here is pretty balanced,” Garland said. “Maybe the market is overreacting, but I don’t think we’re really overreacting here. We had a bad performance (Saturday) and we weren’t happy with it. But the next day we got to work and just moved on.”

The Canucks have four games left before the Christmas break, including back-to-back games in Utah and Las Vegas starting Wednesday.

“But every win is a step,” said defenseman Carson Soucy. “We’ll try to just use what we had tonight – just a small fire. It’s a shame it had to come after a defeat, but that’s what drives you sometimes. Hopefully we can stick with what worked tonight.”