Detroit Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg hadn’t scored a hat trick in the NHL since 2009, so after scoring two goals early on in Friday’s contest against the St. Louis Blues, Zetterberg was intent to work hard to secure the hat trick.
And work he had to.
His final tally didn’t come until late in the third period with roughly a dozen seconds left in the game. The Red Wings were up 4-3 on the Blues at that point after Pavel Datsyuk scored on a questionable power play to put the Wings ahead. Trailing by one, the Blues found themselves with a power play in the late stages of the contest and opted to pull their goalie as well for the extra skater. With the seconds waning off the clock, and pressure coming heavily from the Blues in the Wings’ defensive zone, Datsyuk grabbed the puck along the boards and flipped it into the neutral zone. Zetterberg took off in a foot race with Blues forward T.J. Oshie in an attempt to corral the puck and send it home for the hat trick, but Oshie was intent to do everything he could to keep the puck loose and prevent Zetterberg from getting the hat trick. Check out the video below to see Zetterberg’s awesome effort to overpower Oshie and score his third goal and fifth point of the game.
