Ryan O’Reilly of Clinton, Ontario recorded his second career National Hockey League hat trick on Friday. O’Reilly scored thrice as the St. Louis Blues trounced the Minnesota Wild 9-1.
O’Reilly scored his first goal of the game at 1:09 of the second period, which put the Blues up 5-1 at the time. He scored from Sammy Blais of Montmagny, Quebec, and Justin Faulk. O’Reilly then scored an unassisted shorthanded goal at 4:39 of the second period which put the Blues up 6-1. Then in the third period, O’Reilly notched his hat trick with an even-strength goal from Jake Walman of Toronto, Ontario, and Blais at 10:17 of the third period, which put the Blues up 8-1. For Walman, it was his first NHL career assist.
O’Reilly finished the game with three goals and one assist for four points. He was one of seven Blues with a multi-point game. The others were Blais and Faulk (one goal and two assists for three points each), Jaden Schwartz of Wilcox, Saskatchewan (two goals), Tyler Bozak of Regina, Saskatchewan (two assists), Robert Thomas of Aurora, Ontario (two assists), and Torey Krug (two assists).
On the season, O’Reilly had 16 goals and 22 assists for 38 points. He was a +16 with 16 penalty minutes, eight power play-points, one shorthanded goal, two game-winning goals, 92 shots on goal, 16 blocked shots, 19 hits, 23 takeaways, and 15 giveaways. O’Reilly’s first career NHL hat trick came on November 6, 2018, in a 4-1 Blues win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
With the win, the Blues improve to a record of 18 wins, 16 regulation losses, and six losses in extra time for 42 points. They are one point back of the Arizona Coyotes for a playoff spot.
