Boedker’s hat trick sparks win over Oilers
EDMONTON, Alberta — Halfway through the season, Mikkel Boedker managed to double his goal-scoring total in one game.
Boedker scored three goals for his fourth career hat trick to lead the Sharks to a 5-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.
“A game like that, when you score on your first shift, you’re going to feel good the whole game. They came my way today. Three good goals,” Boedker said. “After struggling and not producing, you always feel pressure. Now you have to expect to go out and do the things I’m relied on to do.”
Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said getting the 27-yearold going again will be key to his team’s second-half success.
“That’s what we need from him,” DeBoer said. “He was playing well before Christmas, and we knew these types of games were coming. He’s in for a big second half, and we need him.”
Brent Burns and Logan Couture also scored for the Sharks, who won back-to-back games after losing three in a row. Martin Jones stopped 33 shots.
Drake Caggiula, Matthew Benning and Oscar Klefbom scored for the Oilers, losers of two straight. Cam Talbot finished with 23 saves.
Burns’ point shot through traffic gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead with 18 seconds remaining in the opening period. It was Burns’ 16th goal of the season.
Boedker then scored twice 6½ minutes apart in the second to give San Jose a three-goal lead. Boedker completed the hat trick at 8:55 with a tip-in from in front to make it 4-1. It was his second hat trick against the Oilers. His first three hat tricks came while he was playing for Arizona.
Benning, with his second career goal, got the Oilers back in it 22 seconds into the third, and Klefbom’s slap shot off a face-off 2:23 later pulled the Oilers to 4-3.
Couture put the Sharks back up by two at 5:06, as the rebound of his shot went off his leg and in while he was crashing the net.
The Sharks took a 1-0 lead 1:39 into the opening period as Boedker got to a rebound and lifted the puck over the sprawling Talbot, who was making his NHL-leading 38th start of the season.
Caggiula tied it for Edmonton with four minutes left in the first. He fought off two Sharks defenders at the side of the net before hooking a backhand shot past Jones.
San Jose defenseman MarcEdouard Vlasic returned to the lineup after missing four games following being hit in the face with a puck.