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Feb 24, 2024, 10:57 PM ET
DENVER — Tyler Bertuzzi scored three times, including a go-ahead, power-play goal with 2:51 remaining, and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight win.
Bertuzzi, a free-agent signing last summer who has struggled with his new club, posted his first multi-goal effort in a regular-season game for the first time in more than two years, and he did so on his 29th birthday.
According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Bertuzzi is the fourth player in NHL history to record a hat trick, including the game-winning goal, on his birthday, and this is the first time ever that it’s happened for a Maple Leaf. What’s more, the effort was his first hat trick since Oct. 14, 2021, when his Detroit Red Wings met the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Bertuzzi potted the winner when he took a pass from William Nylander and knocked it past Colorado goaltender Alexandar Georgiev. Bertuzzi’s goal was soon after Mikko Rantanen drew a delay penalty for sending the puck out of play.
Nathan MacKinnon had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds, but his shot just before the buzzer was stopped by Ilya Samsonov, who finished with 26 saves.
“It was frustrating, because I thought we played hard and did a lot of good things,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “But we certainly didn’t score easy, and I felt like we did it to ourselves.”
It’s the fourth hat trick of the month for the Maple Leafs. Only four teams have had four hat tricks in a single month over the last 25 years, according to NHL Stats. The list also includes Winnipeg (November 2018), Columbus (March 2018) and Los Angeles (November 2005).
Mitchell Marner added a goal and an assist as the Maple Leafs closed a four-game trip by outscoring teams 21-11.
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Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/39595102/maple-leafs-f-tyler-bertuzzi-nets-hat-trick-29th-birthday
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Publish date : 2024-02-25 03:58:09
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