Is there anything better than waking up on a holiday Monday after a massive Oilers playoff win over the Calgary Flames? Not from where I blog. That’s why I’ve spent my morning rewatching the highlights on loop and smiling like a big dumb idiot.
It goes without saying that a big part of last night’s story was the natural hat trick that Evander Kane scored in the second period. In a span of only six minutes, Kane was able to pump home three very similar goals and I thought it would be fun to walk through all of them this afternoon and relive some of the magic that happened in that second period.
The fun part of this first goal was seeing all of the mistakes the Flames made in the moments leading up to Kane sinking a backhander past a flailing Markstrom. From Coleman passing to no one in particular to the hilarious line change that actually took potential defenders out of the way, I laughed out loud at Calgary’s lack of defensive coverage in the neutral and defensive zones that basically cleared a lane for the Draisaitl/Kane give-and-go. Bonus points will also be awarded to Gudbranson for sliding out of frame and allowing Draisaitl to dangle his lifeless body before feeding Kane out front.
On goal number two, the Flames got caught with another turnover in the offensive zone that Draisaitl was able to pick up with ease before moving the puck up to McDavid near centre ice. Once it got there, McDavid was able to spin off Hanifin’s check attempt with relative ease, leave him in the dust, and break into the offensive zone with plenty of time and space to play with before finding Kane with a perfectly placed backhand pass. Seeing as there was basically no one defending back there, all Kane had to do was keep his stick on the ice and pop the centering pass into a mostly open net. In this play, bonus points will be awarded to Matthew Tkachuk for having the best seat in the house and Rasmus Andersson for falling flat on his face to secure a perfect view of the puck going into the net.
On the hat trick goal, the Oilers broke out of their zone so cleanly that it left McDavid and Kane with an odd-man rush from centre ice to the net, and I don’t think I have to tell you that this is wayyyyyy too much time for a guy like Connor to have at his disposal. So once Kylington made a move over to McDavid along the boards, all he had to do was feather a pass over to Kane who had all kinds of time and room to execute another deke to his backhand. For the third time in only six minutes, the Oilers managed to end Calgary’s attack with a timely steal, turn the puck up ice, and finish the playoff on a perfectly executed odd-man rush. As far as dominating stretches go, I’m not sure I had ever seen anything quite like this and that’s what made the news that this hat trick was the seventh-fastest in NHL playoff history not all that surprising. Either way, having Kane cap off the hat trick as the cherry on top of a brilliant period for the Oilers still gives me chills to think about this morning.
Not only was the three-goal stretch tremendous to watch, but I also have so much love for everyone that was at Rogers Place and happily chucked their hats. Since I was watching the game at home, I had no idea how many hats were raining down and found myself wondering what was taking so long with the delay. So when the broadcast came back from the commercials and they showed what the scene actually looked like, I couldn’t help but laugh at what you amazing animals had done. From the first goal to the third, Kane’s hat trick could be one of my favourite playoff memories because of the stakes and the following reaction by the crowd. Even 16 hours later, I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it.
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