Patrik Laine of Tampere, Finland notched his ninth career National Hockey League hat trick on Thursday, as the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 7-4 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. However one must realize that this was Laine’s first NHL hat trick with the Blue Jackets, as his other eight were with the Winnipeg Jets.
Laine’s first goal of the game was at the nine second mark of the second period from Boone Jenner and Vladislav Gavrikov. At the time, the Blue Jackets took a 4-2 lead. Laine then scored from Jenner again at 7:58 of the third period to put the Blue Jackets up 5-3. This goal turned out to be the game-winning goal. Laine then closed out the scoring with a goal with five seconds left in the contest from Gavrikov and Gustav Nyquist.
On the season, Laine has 16 goals and 15 assists for 31 points in 29 games. He is a +2 with 12 penalty minutes, nine power-play points, five game-winning goals, 11 blocked shots, 19 hits, 13 takeaways, and 25 giveaways.
The three goals Laine scored on Thursday were not the most number of goals he has scored in a game. On November 24, 2018, he scored five goals for the Jets in an 8-4 win over the St. Louis Blues. Over the last decade, there have been only two other players to score five goals in a game. They are Mika Zibanejad of the New York Rangers and Timo Meier of the San Jose Sharks.
Even with the win by four goals over the Blackhawks on Thursday, it has been a tough season for the Blue Jackets. With a record of 24 wins, 23 regulation losses and one loss in extra time, they are still 16 points back of the Washington Capitals for fourth place in the Metropolitan Division. Columbus has won four of their last five games, including a 5-4 win over the Capitals on February 8.
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