Nashville Predators center Filip Forsberg of Ostervala, Sweden recorded his 11th career National Hockey League hat trick on Friday. He accomplished the feat in a 5-1 Predators win over the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
How and When did Forsberg score thrice?
Forsberg scored one goal in each period. He opened the scoring on the power-play at 5:53 of the first period. Luke Evangelista of Toronto, Ontario and Thomas Novak of St. Paul, Minnesota picked up the assists. Forsberg’s second goal was an unassisted even strength marker. It put the Predators up 3-0 at 5:22 of the second period. Forsberg then closed out the scoring with the only goal in the third period. He scored from Ryan O’Reilly of Clinton, Ontario and Evangelista at 1:37 on the power-play in the final frame.
Second Hat Trick this season and second against the Blackhawks
Of Forsberg’s 11 National Hockey League hat tricks, two have come this season and two have come against the Blackhawks. In 2023-24, he scored thrice on March 7, in a 4-2 Predators win over the Buffalo Sabres. Ironically, Forsberg’s first NHL hat trick was also against the Blackhawks. It came on April 23, 2015 in game five of the first round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. This was also Forsberg’s only playoff hat trick.
Forsberg in 2023-24
Forsberg is having the best season offensively in his NHL career. He has career highs in goals (46), assists (46), points (92), power-play points (31), game-winning goals (10), shots on goal (338), faceoff wins (11), and hits (138). Forsberg is also a +16 with 43 penalty minutes, 42 blocked shots, 73 takeaways and 78 giveaways.
Predators in the Playoffs
Nashville is in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. With a record of 46 wins, 29 regulation losses and five losses in extra time, they have 97 points. The Predators have two more games left. They host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday and are in Pittsburgh on Monday.
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