Toronto Maple Leafs player Tyler Bertuzzi became the first in the

DENVER (AP) — In the illustrious history of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tyler Bertuzzi became the first player to record a hat trick on his birthday. That’s something to be happy about.
Pat Graham from The Press Association
around ten hours ago

DENVER (AP) — In the illustrious history of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tyler Bertuzzi became the first player to record a hat trick on his birthday.

That’s something to be happy about.

With 3 goals, including the game-winning power play goal with 2:51 left, Bertuzzi helped the Maple Leafs win their seventh straight game on Saturday night, defeating the Colorado Avalanche 4-3.

That is also something to rejoice in.

“A fantastic road trip for us,” Bertuzzi remarked after his squad defeated opponents 21-11 to finish with a maximum of eight points after four games.

On his 29th birthday, Bertuzzi scored his third career hat trick after receiving a feed from William Nylander and beating Colorado goalie Alexandar Georgiev. Shortly after Mikko Rantanen was given a delaying game penalty forremoving the puck from the game.

For the Avalanche, who had led 2-0 at the beginning of the game, the penalty turned out to be an expensive error.

In the final seconds, Nathan MacKinnon had an opportunity to level the score, but Ilya Samsonov, who ended with 26 saves, blocked his attempt right before the whistle.

For the Maple Leafs, this is their fourth hat trick of the month. NHL Stats shows that in the previous 25 years, only four teams have had four hat tricks in a single month. Los Angeles (November 2005), Columbus (March 2018), and Winnipeg (November 2018) are also on the list.

Nylander had three assists, and Mitchell Marner added a goal and an assist.

MacKinnon and Auston Matthews, two of the league’s best players, were supposed to square off in this match. In terms of statistics, MacKinnon emerged victorious, tallying three assists to give himin each of the 28 home games this season, at least one point. Despite Colorado having the greatest home record going into Ball Arena, Matthews, who also got an assist, won the crucial game.

Regarding the highly anticipated showdown, Bertuzzi remarked, “I get to see it every day with Auston but obviously MacKinnon’s an unbelievable player.” “I enjoy watching it.”

Rantanen, Andrew Cogliano, and Artturi Lehkonen all had objectives for Colorado. Of the three penalties in the game, the Avalanche drew two, and the Maple Leafs scored on both of them.

Coach Jared Bednar of the Avalanche stated, “You just can’t make a couple of those mistakes when you’re not scoring easy.”

The Avalanche’s 5-3 victory in Toronto on January 13 was not like this game at all. The Maple Leafs jumped out to a 3-0 lead in that game, but Colorado responded with five goals in a row. In this one, the Maple Leafs scored three goals in a row to cut the Avalanche’s lead to 2-0 before Rantanen knotted the score early in the third.

It prepared the ground for Bertuzzi.

Marner stated, “He’s been playing some really great hockey the last couple of weeks.”

This season, when playing at home, the quick MacKinnon is averaging 2.11 points per game with three more assists. He’s trying to make history by being the fourth player in the previous thirty years to average at least two points in a season (minimum of 25 games) at home.NHL Statistics. He would be joining the ranks of Jaromir Jagr (2.02 in 1995–96), Mario Lemieux (2.60 in 1995–1996), and Connor McDavid (2.11 in 2020–21).

Cale Makar, a defenseman, earned an assist to snap a seven-game pointless streak.

We played well and hard, according to Cogliano. “They are among the best teams in the league; they are a good team.”

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