Once in a century hat trick history made in NHL openers

The hats were flying on the first two nights of the NHL season. Connor McDavid, Alex Ovechkin, Wayne Simmonds and Brandon Saad each recorded a hat trick in his team’s season opener. It’s the first time four different players scored at least three goals in his season opener in 100 years, since the NHL’s first two games back in 1917. Ovechkin’s hat trick that led The hat tricks by McDavid and Simmonds were the first, respectively, in franchise history for the Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers in a season opener. Saad’s hat trick in a 10-1 drubbing of the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins was the first by a Chicago Blackhawks player in a season opener since Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Hull in 1965. – Associated Press