I have a question regarding the Oilers’ offensive outburst against the Los Angeles Kings.

If you were there, what was your reasoning to not throw your hat after Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored a first-period Hatty, but then when Leon Draisaitl scored his in the third frame you decided to let it fly?

Did you get caught up in the moment? Were you saving your hat because you felt another trick was possible? I’m curious what goes through the mind on a rare occasion like Tuesday night.

There is a good chance most of you might never witness another double hat trick live again. It is rare.

1. I hope you enjoyed the moment. Sports are supposed to be fun, and when rare moments like Tuesday evening unfold you have to enjoy them.

I wasn’t at the game. I was in Red Deer watching my nephew and his Prince Albert Raiders teammates take a 3-0 series lead over the Rebels. I PVR’d the Oilers game and watched it yesterday morning. I knew the outcome, so it was a tad anti-climatic, but during my career I’ve learned to enjoy special moments in sports, because they might never happen again.

2. I still recall Sam Gagner’s eight-point night. Especially the third period where everything he and his linemates, Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle, touched went in the net. They scored on four consecutive shifts. It was surreal. Despite all the losing over the past 13 seasons, Oilers fans have still witnessed some pretty cool performances. I know you’d trade them for another playoff run, and hopefully, that will occur soon, but Tuesday night was special.

3. It was the first time two Oilers recorded a hat-trick in the same game since 1985. That game was also against the Los Angeles Kings.

On December 20th, 1985 Jari Kurri had four goals and two assists, while Paul Coffey had three goals and two assists. It was Coffey’s fourth career hat trick and it was Kurri’s 17th regular season Hatty and 22nd overall. Wayne Gretzky had six assists in the victory. Hall of Famers Mark Messier and Glenn Anderson were both injured.

4. On December 19th, 1981 Dave Lumley had 3-3-6 and Gretzky 3-4-7. Lumley still jokes about how Gretzky was named first star. “He would score like that often, but they couldn’t give me one night,” he laughed. And there were four other occasions where Oilers teammates scored potted three goals each.

January 4th, 1984: Gretzky had 4-4-8 and Kurri 3-1-4 when they defeated Minnesota 12-8.

March 11th, 1984: Messier potted 3-0-3 and Kurri had 3-2-5 in a 12-2 drubbing of the Vancouver Canucks.

February 19th, 1985: In a 9-4 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs Glenn Anderson scored 3-1-4 and Kurri had 3-0-3.

And on December 11th, 1985 Anderson scored 3-3-6 and Kurri had 3-0-3 in a 12-9 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

5. On November 19th, 1983 Gretzky scored 3-5-8, Kurri had 5-1-6 and Willy Lindstrom potted 3-1-4 in a 13-4 spanking of the New Jersey Devils. That was the game that caused the infamous “Mickey Mouse organization” quote from Gretzky. It is the only Triple Hatty in Oilers history and I’d be stunned if we ever seen another.

6. Prior to Tuesday the NHL hadn’t seen a double Hatty in over a decade. Here is a list of the most recent ones:

Pascal Dupuis (3-0-3) and Petr Sykora (3-1-4) on December 11th, 2008 in a Penguins 9-2 win over the Islanders.
Drew Stafford (3-2-5) and Derek Roy (3-1-4) on January 18th, 2008 in a Sabres 10-1 win over the Thrashers.
Jarome Iginla (3-1-4) and Kristian Huselius (3-2-5) on December 13th, 2007 in a Flames 9-6 win over the Lightning.
Joffrey Lupul (3-3-6) and RJ Umberger (3-2-5) on December 11th, 2007 in a Flyers 8-2 win over the Penguins.
Jochen Hecht (3-1-4) and Jason Pominville (3-1-4) on January 6th, 2006 in a Sabres 10-1 win over the Kings.
Craig Conroy (3-2-5) and Alex Frolov (3-1-4) on November 13th, 2005 in a Kings 8-2 win over the Blue Jackets.
**Daniel Alfredsson (4-2-6) and Martin Havlat (4-0-4) on November 2nd, 2005 in a Senators 10-4 win over the Sabres. Four goals each.**
Maxim Afinogenov (3-0-3) and Miroslav Satan (3-0-3) on December 31st, 2003 in a Sabres 7-1 win over the Capitals.
**John Madden (4-1-5) and Randy McKay (4-0-4) on October 28th, 2000 in a Devils 9-0 win over the Penguins. Four goals each.**
Steve Sullivan (3-2-5) and Eric Daze (3-2-5) on March 9th, 2003 in a Blackhawks 7-1 win over the Bruins.

Owen Nolan (3-3-6) and Jeff Friesen (3-1-4) on October 4th, 1999 in a Sharks 7-1 win over the Blackhawks.
Brian Bellows (3-1-4) and Jason Wiemer (3-0-3) on March 1st, 1996 in a Lightning 7-3 win over the Sharks.
Vyacheslav Koslov (3-2-5) and Ray Sheppard (3-0-3) on January 6th, 1994 in a Red Wings 10-3 win over the Sharks.
Robert Reichel (3-3-6) and Ronnie Stern (3-0-3) on February 10th, 1993 in a Flames 13-1 win over the Sharks.
Alex Mogilny (3-2-5) and Yuri Khymylev (3-0-3) on December 31st, 1992 in a Sabres 11-6 win over the Rangers.
Jari Kurri (3-3-6), Luc Robitaille (3-2-5) and Mike Donnelly (3-1-4) on November 8th, 1992 in a Kings 11-4 win over the Sharks.
Mark Recchi (3-3-6) and Kevin Stevens (3-0-3) on November 18th, 1991 in a Penguins 7-3 victory over the Nordiques.
Joe Mullen (3-2-5) and Dana Murzyn (3-0-3) on February 22nd, 1990 in a Flames 12-2 win over the Maple Leafs.
Pat Lafontaine (3-3-6) and Derek King (3-2-5) on February 6th, 1990 in an Islanders 8-7 win over the Penguins.

7. With his hat trick, Draisaitl is once again within striking distance of the elusive 50-goal mark. He needs four goals in the final six games. He has 23 goals in his last 31 games so he is more than capable of reaching 50. Including this season, Alex Ovechkin is the only player who has scored 50 goals in a season over the past seven years. He has done it three times and needs one more goal over his final six games to get there again this year. For Draisaitl to become the only other player in seven years to do it would be quite the feat. John Tavares needs five goals in five games, so he also has a shot.

8. Draisaitl needs one point to reach 100. He will do it tonight and when he does he and McDavid will be the first set of teammates since Alex Ovechkin (109) and Nicklas Backstrom (101) in 2010 to do it. Other pairs of teammates who have done it in the 2000s include Evgeni Malkin (113) and Sidney Crosby (103) in 2009, Vincent Lecavalier (108) and Marty St.Louis (102) in 2007, and Dany Heatley (103) and Daniel Alfredsson (103) in 2006. Malkin and Crosby combined for 216 points. McDavid and Draisaitl have 211 with six games remaining. Their offensive dominance as a tandem is very impressive.

9. Offence is up across the league, which is great to see. Does anyone really miss all the 2-1 games of previous years? I didn’t think so. In 2017, Draisaitl was eighth in scoring with 77 points. McDavid led the league with 100 and was the only player with more than 90 points. This season there are already eleven players with 90 points and that number should grow to at least 15 and possibly 17. Nine players had 90+ points last year and the last time the NHL had 15+ players with 90 or more points was in 1995/1996 when 22 players topped the 90-point mark.

10. Dallas Stars forward Jamie Benn only has 52 points in 74 games. His previous five seasons he had 79, 87, 89, 69 and 79. By his standards, he is having a brutal offensive season when you consider offense is up across the league. Teammate Alex Radulov has 64 points in 65 games while Tyler Seguin has 74. Seguin has produced 84, 77, 73, 72 and 78 the past five years and likely will finish with his second highest point total of his career, yet Benn is struggling.

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Source: NHL, Official Game Page, 3/28/2019 – 7:00 am MT