Leon Draisaitl, Sergei Bobrovsky, Top Highlights from Mar. 26
March 27, 2019
Most of the talk surrounding Tuesday's NHL games was about the tight playoff races in each conference.
However, it was the sixth-place team in the Western Conference wild-card race who stole all the headlines, as Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins recorded hat tricks in Edmonton's eight-goal outburst.
Sergei Bobrovsky and the Columbus Blue Jackets also turned in an impressive performance, as they earned a valuable win over the New York Islanders to keep the Eastern Conference wild-card race interesting.
Tuesday's final game provided some drama in the Western Conference wild-card race, as Arizona remained level on points with Colorado while knocking Chicago further away from a playoff position.
Tuesday's NHL Scores
Washington 4, Carolina 1
Columbus 4, New York Islanders 0
Montreal 6, Florida 1
Ottawa 4, Buffalo 0
Edmonton 8, Los Angeles 4
Anaheim 5, Vancouver 4
Arizona 1, Chicago 0
Draisaitl's Hat Trick For Oilers
Nugent-Hopkins' 1st-Period Hat Trick
Steel Leads Ducks To Win With Hat Trick
Ottawa's Perfect Passing
Panarin Goes Between Goalie's Legs For Goal
Ovechkin Earns His 49th Goal
Hamilton's Laser From The Point
Tatar Notches 25th Goal
Cousins Nets Lone Goal In Arizona Victory
Edmonton Explodes For 8 Goals
Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins became the first pair of Oilers teammates to record hat tricks in the same game since Jari Kurri and Paul Coffey achieved the feat in 1985, per NHL Public Relations:
Nugent-Hopkins started the scoring outburst by finding the back of the net on three occasions in the first period.
With his first-period hat trick, Nugent-Hopkins became the seventh Edmonton player to record three goals in a period, per NHL PR:
Draisaitl scored once in each period to move his season goal total up to 46 and help the Oilers stay alive for now in the Western Conference wild-card race.
As one would expect, the Oilers were pleased with their performance, as Nugent-Hopkins said after the game, per the team's official Twitter account.
"We just kept pushing and pushing and put a lot of pucks on net and didn't let them breathe at all so it was a good way to start," Nugent-Hopkins said.
Edmonton is still alive in the hunt for the wild-card spots in the West, but it will need everything to go right down the stretch, as it sits five points back of Colorado and Arizona with six games left.
Bobrovsky's Shutout Boosts Blue Jackets
The Blue Jackets got the result they needed to stay afloat in the East wild-card race Tuesday, as they shutout the third-place team in the Metropolitan Division.
Bobrovsky allowed Columbus to remain two points back of Montreal for the final wild-card spot by making 26 saves against the New York Islanders.
The shutout was the second in a row for Bobrovsky, who noted the importance of the win after a four-game road swing to Fox Sports Ohio.
"It feels great," Bobrovsky said. "We had a long trip. It's nice to be back and it's nice to have a win."
Tuesday's victory allowed the Blue Jackets to go into Thursday's clash with Montreal with a chance to jump back into second place in the wild-card race.
Columbus is two points back of the Canadiens, and a win at home Thursday would put it level on points with Montreal with a game in hand.
With a fairly easy schedule to close the regular season, the Blue Jackets could take control of the second wild-card spot Thursday and never let go.
Wednesday's NHL Schedule
Toronto at Philadelphia (7 p.m. ET)
New York Rangers at Boston (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN)
Dallas at Calgary (9:30 p.m. ET)
Vegas at Colorado (10 p.m. ET, NBCSN)
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