Gagner busts out eight-point night to tie Oilers record
Matches Gretzky as club whips Hawks
Hats off to Sam Gagner. The Edmonton Oilers forward not only registered his second NHL hat trick, he added an exclamation point by finishing with four goals and four assists in an 8-4 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks Thursday at Rexall Place.
Gagner’s eye-popping night puts him in very elite company. He tied Wayne Gretzky for points in a game after moving past Jari Kurri, who was the last Oiler to register six points back on Dec. 14, 1988.
“It’s something I will never forget,” said Gagner. “It definitely feels good, it felt like everything I touched went in.”
It was the fourth straight game that the Oilers, now 20-26-5, have registered at least a point — a modest feat not equalled since late October.
It was also the third time this season that the Oilers have defeated the Blackhawks. The last time they were in Rexall, Edmonton pounded Chicago 9-2.
“We know what happened in here,” said Chicago defenceman Duncan Keith before the game, “but at the same time we need the two points. We’re in a tight race in our conference.”
Revenge wasn’t their only motivation as the Chicago returned to Edmonton on Thursday to close out their season series with the Oilers. They have now lost four straight games and are losing ground in the Western Conference.
“Sometimes when you play a team like the Oilers you might take them lightly, but for us that’s not going to be the case,” Patrick Kane said before the puck dropped. “We know we owe these guys a couple. We haven’t had good results against this team.”
The visitors wasted no time setting the tone on Thursday.
Jamal Mayers, snapped in the game’s first goal at 6:29, they gener- ated 14 shots in the first 20 minutes and had another 10 blocked, and held off the Oilers power play on consecutive minors.
Forty seconds after the seconds period was underway, Patrick Sharp punctuated a two-on-one with a one-timer he put between Devan Dubnyk’s pads.
Taylor Hall, with Brent Seabrook shadowing him all the way to the net, beat Corey Crawford to ignite the Oilers second period comeback. Five minutes later, Gagner, with a wraparound, set the stage for his banner night. He scored three in the third and picked up four assists before the final whistle.
“I feel like a pigeon only scoring four points,” joked Hall afterward.
Gagner’s first hat trick was March 19, 2009 versus the Colorado Avalanche.
Meanwhile, Ryan Whitney, who last snapped in a goal for the Oilers over a year ago, tied the game 3-3 on a second period power play. It was one year and one surgery ago to be exact that he last scored.
He had left the Oilers lineup on Dec. 28, 2010, with a dislocated ankle tendon and a head turning 27 points in 35 games. His comeback has interrupted twice and his ability to get his game back even more of a struggle.
The Hawks have now lost their last five road games, an uncharacteristic slump. The Flames could make it six as they host the struggling club tonight. The last time Chicago dropped six straight away from the United Center was when they went on a 19-game skid between Nov. 10, 2003 and Jan. 29, 2004.