New York Rangers left winger Will Cuylle of Toronto, Ontario recorded his first career National Hockey League hat trick on Easter Sunday. He accomplished the feat in a dominant 8-1 Rangers win over the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.
It was a dominant second period for the Rangers as they scored five times. Cuylle’s first goal came at 5:53 of the second period from defenseman Braden Schneider of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and Jonny Brodzinski to put the Rangers up 3-1. Cuylle’s second goal came at 8:33 of the second period from Vincent Trocheck and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov to put the Rangers up 4-1. Then Cuylle finished the scoring with 32 seconds left in the third period from former first overall draft pick Alexis Lafreniere of St-Eustache, Quebec and Mika Zibanejad.
In 78 games this season, Cuylle has 20 goals and 17 assists for 37 points in 78 games. He is a -11 with 59 penalty minutes, eight power-play points, one game-winning goal, 153 shots on goal, 42 faceoff wins, 64 blocked shots, 278 hits, nine takeaways, and 53 giveaways.
This was the second straight game that a Canadian-born Ranger recorded a hat trick in a game for the Rangers. On Saturday, Gabriel Perreault of Sherbrooke, Quebec accomplished the feat in a 4-1 Rangers win over the Detroit Red Wings. It should be noted that Perreault was raised in the United States and represents the United States internationally.
