Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scores all for Edmonton Oilers, still lose to Vancouver Canucks 4-3 -NHL Update
Edmonton’s home team might have lost to Vancouver Canucks, 4-3, but the crowd could not have been happier with their top 2011 National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft pick, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who got his first hat trick of his career by scoring all the
Oilers goals, Saturday night, October 15, at a sold-out Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
"I definitely didn't expect to have that kind of a start. I just want to keep it going", said Nugent-Hopkins, who had also scored the teams’ first goal of the new 2011-2012 season.
Now having played three games in the major league, Nugent-Hopkins boosted up his point total to four, which at the moment are impressively all goals.
Sami Salo scored the first goal of the matchup nearly midway through on their opening added man advantage as Edmonton’s, Ryan Smyth, was penalised for tripping with a minor.
Nugent-Hopkins scored the next two back-to-back, the first on a power play opportunity of their own with Daniel Sedin out for hooking, followed by another with 29 seconds remaining on veteran Vancouver goalie, Roberto Luongo.
Henrik Sedin scored on another power play in the opening five minutes of the second on an assist from Sami Salo, followed again by Nugent-Hopkins for his hat trick, assisted by top 2010 draft pick, Taylor Hall, putting the home team up by one.
Alex Burrows made the equaliser on Edmonton goaltender, Devan Dubnyk, assisted by both Sedin twins, forcing an intense third period with both teams tied.
Sami Salo scored again for his third point of the matchup, which ultimately turned out to be the game-winner for the team with Edmonton having only four attempts on goal in the final 20 minutes of regulation.
Being a team full of veteran players, Vancouver was surprised by how the rookie Edmonton team nearly overturned the matchup.
"You've got to give credit to the Oilers and especially their young line", Canucks head coach, Alain Vigneault, said. "They were all over the place; it was a phenomenal (second) period by three young kids that all have a great skill set and a lot of speed
and a lot of competitiveness. They really outplayed us in that second period”.
Snapping their two-game losing streak, the 2011 Stanley Cup finalists, Vancouver Canucks, hope to continue winning against New York Rangers on Tuesday while Oilers stay at home to host Nashville Predators on Monday.
Tags: