Wild's top line overwhelms Oilers; Ryan Hartman nets hat trick
Ryan Hartman had a hat trick and two assists as the Minnesota Wild (3-2-1) dumped the Edmonton Oilers 7-4 Tuesday night in Minneapolis.
Evan Bouchard scored 54 seconds into the game when the Oilers won a draw in Minnesota’s defensive zone and Bouchard ripped a slap shot through traffic and past Filip Gustavsson for a 1-0 lead.
Marco Rossi deflected Ryan Hartman’s shot to tie the game 1-1 and then about 11 minutes passed before the final two minutes of the period saw Warren Foegele score with 1:33 remaining only to have Hartman score 34 seconds later for a 2-2 tie.
Foegele then scored his second of the night just 32 seconds into the second period, followed by Hartman netting his second of the game 38 seconds into the third period.
Oct 24, 2023; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Wild right wing Ryan Hartman (38) celebrates his hat trick against the Edmonton Oilers in the third period at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Then Minnesota went wild with four more goals, including another by Hartman for the hat trick. He finished the night with five points (three goals, two assists). His line mates, Kirill Kaprizov (three assists) and Mats Zuccarello (one goal, one assist) combined for 10 points.
Joel Eriksson Ek also had a goal and an assist and Marcus Foligno scored his first goal of the season on an empty net.
“It’s nice to see everybody get looks like that, right? That tells that we’re doing the right things to score goals and scoring goals the right way or chances the right way,” Wild coach Dean Evason said. "Every line had opportunities. Maybe that (top) line gets more of the points tonight, but if we do that, hopefully it can spread out throughout the entire group.”
Up next: Wild at Philadelphia, Thursday at 6:30 p.m. CT.
