Edmonton Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard of Oakville, Ontario recorded his first career National Hockey League hat trick on Saturday. He accomplished the feat in a 6-5 Oilers win over the Washington Capitals at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.
Bouchard opened the scoring with 48 seconds left in the first period from Zach Hyman of Toronto, Ontario and Mattias Ekholm. Bouchard then put the Oilers up 2-1 at 4:13 of the second period from Connor McDavid of Richmond Hill, Ontario and Leon Draisaitl. Bouchard then tied the game at three from McDavid and Draisaitl at 4:30 of the third period.
The hat trick was part of a magical game for Bouchard. That is because he added three assists for a career-high six points. Bouchard also set up McDavid twice and Hyman once.
Two more Canadians had a multi-point game for the Oilers. McDavid had two goals and three assists for five points and Hyman had one goal and one assist for two points.
Bouchard now has 14 goals and 41 assists for 55 points in 53 games. He is a +9 with 20 penalty minutes, 20 power-play points, three game-winning goals, one shorthanded point, 142 shots on goal, 73 blocked shots, 18 hits, 25 takeaways, and 80 giveaways.
With the win, the Oilers improved to a record of 26-19-8. They are in second place in the Pacific Division and two points back of the Vegas Golden Knights.
