What a night for the Nashville Predators and Edmonton Oilers!
Not only did it see the Oilers secure another substantial win against the Predators it also saw Oilers’ forward Zach Hyman score his first ever Hat-Trick of his NHL career.
While from one perspective, the game was pretty much sewn up for the Oilers with a healthy 6 – 3 win, another would suggest that the Preds were not going to go quietly into the night.
FIRST PERIOD
No sooner after the puck dropped, the Predators arranged themselves and Glass was in position to put them ahead.
It started next to the Oilers’ goal where Colton Sissons fought with Oilers’ defencemen to keep control of the puck ejected from Campbell.
Sissons managed to extract the puck which shot freely across the rink until it met Josi’s stick. He quickly chipped it on to Glass who took a blast at goal from the halfway point.
The shot hit off Campbell’s pads and rolled into the goal to make it 1 – 0 for the Predators.
That was not going to settle well with the Oilers…
Just after the 8th minute of the period, Hyman was able to equalise the scoreboard following a face-off in the Preds half.
With assistance from McDavid and a deflection from Bouchard, Hyman was able to tap the shot past Lankinen and make it 1 – 1.
But that’s just the start of an epic evening for Hyman. The forward would carry the puck to the Preds goal only for it to rebound off a crowd of Preds protecting the goal-line.
Lankinen was down on the ice but he couldn’t stop Hyman giving a little flick of the wrist to knock the shot past him and giving the Oilers the lead.
Oilers chanced their luck in the final seconds with their third goal. A pass across the ice from Nugent-Hopkins from left to right, connected with Draisaitl. Draisaitl got the angle from the right and sent a Power-Play shot directly at Lankinen to make it 3 – 1.
SECOND PERIOD
Predators were not prepared to be the feast of the Oilers last night and they made sure the main meal of the Second Period would taste bittersweet.
Jankowski raced along the right wing of the rink before pulling back and passing to Forsberg who raced towards Campbell and pulled a dummy with a shot across the danger area to Johansen.
Launching with a right-handed slam, Johansen was able to beat Campbell and add another goal to the Predators’ scoreline.
Oilers didn’t take lightly to that, and they made sure to add some salt on the beef with a fourth goal from Draisaitl. With some assistance from McDavid and Hyman, Draisaitl was able to break away from the crunch in the Oilers’ half and rush the Predators’ goal, smashing his shot to make it 4 – 2.
An achievement unlocked for Draisaitl as that made it his 21st goal of the season.
Dante Fabbro would be the next from Nashville to make an impression on the Oilers. Mid-way through the half, the defenceman would find a window to add a third goal.
With some long passes from the Predators’ half and assistance from Josi and Trenin, Fabbro was in line to beat Campbell.
By any means, that goal advantage could not be frittered away and that’s when McDavid stepped up with a deep rush on the Nashville danger-zone. He barged into the centre and fired the puck past Lankinen to make it 5 – 3.
THIRD PERIOD
Hyman clinched his third goal in the closing minutes of the game when Lankinen made the decision to join the attack and leave the net vacant. The breakaway and counter-attack was spectacular.
Hyman outpaced the last man Roman Josi and delivered the biscuit into the basket to conclude Oilers game with a 6 – 3 win.
Speaking after the game, Oilers talisman McDavid poured praise on Hyman for his hat-trick.
‘He had a close call last year… It does mean something.’
