There were just enough hats in Edmonton Tuesday night.
Just enough.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a hat trick in win over LA – file photo by Lewis Bleman
They were all needed when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl notched hat tricks in the Oilers’ 8-4 thrashing of the visiting Los Angeles Kings.
The win keeps the Oilers relevant in the wild card race in the Western Conference.
“I don’t think I’ve done that since minor hockey,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “It’s something new to me, but it was a good way to start the game.
“We kept pushing and pushing and put a lot of pucks on net and didn’t really let them breathe at all. It was a good way to start, and we kept the pressure on for the whole 60 minutes.”
All three of Nugent-Hopkins’ goals came in the five-goal first period for the Oilers.
Connor McDavid had a goal for the Oilers.
“You look at the points they [McDavid and Draisaitl] have, we’re not the only team that’s had trouble with them,” Kings head coach Willie Desjardins said. “When they’re going, they are hard to play against and I’ve always liked Nugent-Hopkins; I think he’s underrated, I think he’s a good player. They were good tonight they came out and capitalized on their chances.”
Mikko Koskinen made 34 saves the win.
Dustin Brown, Alex Iafallo, Drew Doughty, and Carl Grundstrom scored for LA.
Zack Kassian also scored for the Oilers who need to win and get help from the competition.
For Draisaitl, it was his first career NHL hat trick.
“It took me long enough. There were a couple of beautiful plays by my linemates; it was easy to put those in,” Draisaitl said. “It’s great to see different guys contribute and a lot of guys having big nights. It is exciting, and we need that.
“It is a great year for [Nugent-Hopkins] too, and it was good to see him capping it off with a hat trick.”
[WATCH:Â All Kings vs. Oilers highlights]
Jonathan Quick got the start for LA and made six stops on 11 shots before being given the hook after the opening frame.
“We had a pretty good start to the game,” Desjardins said. “Quick made some big saves too, it wasn’t that he didn’t; he made two or three really good saves in the first period. But it seemed other things were going in on us. They have a good team; they’re explosive, we know that, and when you get behind you’re trying to come back and it’s a tough process because they’re going to turn some 2-on-1 and they’re pretty skilled.”
Jack Campbell made 18 saves in relief.
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