Edmonton Oilers centre Matthew Savoie of St. Albert, Alberta recorded his first career National Hockey League hat trick on Thursday. He accomplished the feat in a 6-1 Oilers win over the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.
Savoie scored all three of his goals in the first period. His first goal was the game-winning goal at 6:48 of the opening frame to put the Oilers up 2-0 at the time. This was an all-Canadian goal as defenseman Evan Bouchard of Oakville, Ontario and Connor McDavid of Richmond Hill, Ontario had the assists. Savoie then put the Oilers up 3-1 with five minutes and 25 seconds left in the first period. McDavid picked up the lone assist. Then Savoie’s hat trick came with 58 seconds left in the first period to put the Oilers up 4-1. McDavid and Bouchard had the assists on another all-Canadian goal.
Savoie was one of four Canadians with a multi-point game. McDavid had four assists, Bouchard had three assists, and Colton Dach of St. Albert had one goal and one assist for two points. Meanwhile, Canadian Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of Burnaby, British Columbia also scored for the Oilers.
In the regular season, Savoie had 18 goals and 19 assists for 37 points in 82 games. He was a +6 with 24 penalty minutes, seven power-play points, two shorthanded points, five game-winning goals, 138 shots on goal, 32 faceoff wins, 37 blocked shots, 14 hits, 32 takeaways and 52 giveaways.
Both of Savoie’s shorthanded points were shorthanded goals and came in Oilers wins. The first came on December 4 in a 9-4 Oilers win over the Seattle Kraken. Savoie scored an all-Canadian goal at the time, as Bouchard and Adam Henrique of Brantford, Ontario had the assists. He put the Oilers up 4-2 at 2:28 of the second period. The second came on March 24 in a 5-2 Oilers win over the Utah Mammoth. Savoie put the Oilers up 2-1 at 11:24 of the second period. Once again, Bouchard and Henrique had the assists on another all-Canadian goal.
