MIDDLESEX TWP — Connor Scott’s ability to take over a hockey game was on full display Monday.

He scored the Golden Tornado’s first three goals — two of them shorthanded — in a 5-2 triumph over Upper St. Clair at Ice Connection.

Both shorthanded tallies were set up by an assist from Trevor Gilliland.

“Scott is a very good player. He creates,” said Upper St. Clair coach Ray Conway. “Gilliland is the same way. They hurt us tonight.”

Scott’s first goal came 33 seconds into a Panthers’ power play early in the first period.

“Connor has such a unique blend of talent and work ethic,” said Butler coach Patrick Hammonds. “He knows not to be fancy and just relies on his speed.”

The Panthers tied the game when Matthew Finn found the net with just 20 seconds left in the period, but Scott was at it again in the second period.

Jonathan Fair and Ben Rodgers both assisted Scott’s even-strength tally, which put Butler up 2-1. Just a minute and 36 seconds later, Scott earned a hat trick with yet another goal during a USC power play.

“Our first focus there is to just kill the penalty,” said Scott, “but if we get the opportunity to score, we’ll definitely take it.”

Meanwhile, there was a lot of action at the other end of the ice, where Butler goalie Zach Schnur was busy stopping 13 shots in the second period alone. That included four saves during a Panther power play that began 57 seconds into the period.

Schnur ended the game with 23 saves to earn his seventh win of the season.

“We talked about how Zach has been keeping us in games,” said Hammonds. “Our guys need to embrace our style of play and we wanted to make things easy for him tonight. We did that at times and when we didn’t, he came through for us.”

Leading 3-1 entering the third period, Butler extended its edge to three goals when Ronan Miller knocked in a rebound against USC goalie Adam Seeton to finish a power play.

The Panthers received a second goal from Joshua Koch before Fair ended the scoring with an empty-net goal.

Seeton made 25 saves for the Panthers (2-7-2).

Scott now leads Butler in goals (10), both on the power play (4) and short-handed (3).

“The season is going well, but I’m never satisfied. I can always do more,” Scott said. “Right now, I’m just focused on helping the team get wins and being in the best place for the playoffs.”

Butler (7-2-1) will have to wait a while for a chance at win No. 8. The Tornado travel to play Canon-McMillan on Jan. 5.