News » Islanders develop during this road

DENVER (AP) — In keeping with hockey tradition http://www.officialavalanche.com/authentic-adidas-patrick-roy-jersey , a tip of the cap to honor Alex Ovechkin and Patrik Laine .They’ve each recorded a hat trick of hat tricks this season.Easy as one, two, three. Or so it may seem.Around the league, there have been 61 hat tricks through the first 770 games of the season — the most since 1995-96 (62), according to research by the NHL stats and information department. Leading the surge are Ovechkin of Washington and Laine of Winnipeg with three each.Hold on to your hat, there’s more: There has been at least one three-goal scorer in 10 of the 13 days leading into to the All-Star break.“I think the reason why,” Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen succinctly surmised, “is because scoring around the league is up.”Simple, yes. But on target, too.There have been 132 instances of a team scoring six or more goals in a game so far, which is the most since 2005-06. Teams are averaging 3.03 goals per game, which is on pace for the highest-scoring season since the 3.14 in, you guessed it, 1995-96. There has been an 18 percent increase in scoring since the post-expansion low of 2.57 goals per game for teams in 2003-04 Womens Samuel Girard Jersey , before a lockout led to rule changes.Naturally, hat tricks figure to go hand-in-hand with the escalation.“It’s exciting and not something everyone has done,” said Nashville forward Austin Watson , who had his first NHL hat trick on Nov. 25 against Anaheim. “It’s a cool achievement.”Long associated with cricket and soccer, the term hat trick appears to have made its way into the mainstream hockey vernacular when a Toronto businessman offered a hat to any player who scored three goals during an NHL game while visiting his town. As the legend goes, Chicago forward Alex Kaleta went into the shop in 1946 and found a fedora he fancied, according to an NHL.com story . Only, he didn’t have the funds to purchase it. The business owner offered to give it to Kaleta free of charge should he score three goals against the Maple Leafs.Kaleta had four. Presto, a hat trick.These days, hat tricks come in a variety of forms. There’s the natural one (three straight goals by a player), traditional (any three goals, sometimes culminating with a late empty-netter) and of course the “Gordie Howe” (a goal, assist and a fight).The achievement of a hat trick has long been celebrated with fans tossing their hats on the ice. Ever wonder where all those hats go? The Avs, for one Semyon Varlamov Jersey , donate the caps to the Denver Rescue Mission.The fastest NHL hat trick took just 21 seconds by Chicago’s Bill Mosienko (1952). The most in a career? Wayne Gretzky, who had 50. Ovechkin has the most of any active player with 23.They’re far from common — this year’s total of 61 so far is just 8 percent of all games. The Great One needed 1,487 games to get his 50.All the increased scoring means the feat may someday lose a bit of its luster. But not yet.“It’s a pretty hard thing to do,” said Minnesota forward Jason Zucker, who had a hat trick on Nov. 9, 2017. “Scoring any goal in this league is a hard thing to do. To do three in one game is pretty incredible.”Ovechkin had two in a four-day window this season, while Laine had a pair over a six-day span, including a five-goal game on Nov. 24.Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog gave his first hat trick on Nov. 11, 2017, against Washington the royal treatment. He has the puck in a case with the game sheet and a picture. He said he doesn’t have his puck from the second one, which happened a month later.“I don’t think guys are going out there trying to score hat tricks,” the All-Star Landeskog said. “Guys are going out there trying to help the team win.”As for why there are so many hat tricks this season, Zucker has a simple deduction.“It’s the speed. It’s the skill. It’s the sticks, the way guys shoot pucks now Sergei Boikov Jersey ,” Zucker explained. “Guys don’t even have to try to shoot pucks — the sticks do a lot of the work for us.”No need to convince Minnesota’s All-Star goaltender Devan Dubnyk of that.“Teams are discovering ways to create chances and figure how pucks actually go in the net and not just thinking if you throw 50 pucks at the net that you’re going to score a bunch of goals,” Dubnyk said. “It’s understanding how to create offense. You can see it throughout the league this year. There’s a lot of offensive creativity and it’s making it tough for defenses and tough for goalies.” RALEIGH, N.C. — Two teams feeling good after their most recent results meet Sunday when the New York Islanders face the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena.The teams put together different types of inspirational victories in advance of this game, but the confidence might be brewing for both clubs.For the Islanders, it was Saturday afternoon’s 6-1 whipping of the Philadelphia Flyers for a strong start on a three-game road swing.Article continues below ...“They are games that mean a lot,” said Islanders center Anthony Beauvillier, who notched his first goal of the season Saturday. “All of us want to get rolling.”The Hurricanes rallied from two-goal deficits twice in Friday night’s 4-3 shootout victory over visiting San Jose. That was Carolina’s first shootout of the season.“I think it’s a big step for us,” said Hurricanes left winger Brock McGinn, who scored in regulation and in the shootout. “I think we need to keep this confidence going.”The Hurricanes might be further establishing an identity as they continue a good start to the season with a 6-3-1 record.“The way we won was important,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said of the most recent game. “We’re not going to quit, I know that about this group.” The Hurricanes became the first team this season to outshoot the Sharks in San Jose’s 10 games. Carolina held a 41-23 edge in shots, though it was fast paced for both sides at times.“That’s the way hockey should be played,” Brind’Amour said. “I know there were lots of mistakes. But I was on the edge of my seat, and I have a pretty good one.”The Islanders are still piecing together things under first-year coach Barry Trotz. On Sunday Youth Jake McCabe Jersey , they try to win consecutive games for the first time this season.“We’ve done a lot of good things, haven’t always got the results we want,” Trotz said.Because of the Islanders’ wavering outcomes, there have been times when it’s hard to figure out the pulse of the team. For Trotz, he knows it will take time.“Part of the process is to understand, a lot of times with young players and even old players … to be a top player, you have to play (through it),” he said of certain struggles. “They can’t get frustrated. Make sure they play with a team concept and not try to do too much. … (They’re) getting used to us. We’re kind of retraining them a little bit.”Trotz said seeing how the Islanders develop during this road strip is crucial because there could be changes made with line combinations based on what the opponent is doing.“We’re trying to get some balance throughout the lineup,” Trotz said. “We need to be a little more consistent throughout our lineup. Stay out to the box, play our game and believe in what we’re doing.”Carolina center Sebastian Aho takes a 10-game points streak into Sunday’s game. He has an assist in every game this season, one game shy of matching Eric Staal for the franchise record of 11 consecutive games with an assist.Brind’Amour didn’t commit Saturday to using goalie Scott Darling for his season debut against the Islanders. He was activated for the last game but didn’t play. He’s coming off a groin injury suffered in the preseason finale.The teams opened the season against each other Oct. 4 in Raleigh, with the Islanders winning in overtime.