Something has gotten into Edmonton’s Sam Gagner. He scored four goals and dished out four assists in the Oilers’ 8-4 win over Chicago on Thursday night. Gagner tied the Oilers’ franchise record for points in a game with eight, joining Paul Coffey and Wayne Gretzky. That’s not bad company. It was the first eight-point game in the NHL since Mario Lemieux on Dec. 31, 1988.
More records? You got it. Gagner is the second player in NHL history to record a point on each of his team’s goals during a game in which the team scored at least eight times. Lemieux had five goals and three assists as his Penguins defeated the Devils, 8-6, in that New Year’s Eve game in 1988.
The Oilers and Blackhawks were scoreless after the first period Thursday, so Gagner did all of that work in the final 40 minutes. That is seriously an incredible night. But Gagner wasn’t done. He went right back to work in the first period of the Oilers’ next game, scoring two goals and adding an assist in the first 20 minutes against the Red Wings on Saturday. That’s six goals and five assists in a three-period span. He is the first player to scored 11 points over two consecutive games since Jaromir Jagr did it for the Capitals in 2003. Gagner also set a new Oilers record by scoring or assisting on 11 straight team goals, breaking the previous record of 10, which Gretzky did twice.
Gagner picked up an assist in the Oilers’ loss to Toronto on Monday, giving him 12 points in his last three games. The 22-year-old had 5 goals and 17 assists in his first 43 games. He hadn’t scored a goal since Jan. 3.
Luckily for me, I have him on my fantasy team and had him in my lineup for the games Thursday and Saturday. Don’t judge me for playing fantasy hockey.
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