Alexander Nylander has gone more unnoticed than expected during his National Hockey League career, but the talented forward has impressed since joining the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Thanks to the Swede's hat trick, the Ohio team completed a tour de force by defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 6-3 on Monday night at Nationwide Arena.
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The eighth overall pick in the 2016 draft, which the Jackets recently acquired in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins, shines with his new team with six points in five games.
Nylander notably scored two goals in the third period and scored the winning goal for the first time at the beginning of the period. He then showed off his full speed by catching back a long-range puck and completing his first hat trick in an empty net.
This memorable performance allowed the Jackets to record back-to-back wins for the first time since late November. Justin Danforth, Erik Gudbranson and Yegor Chinakhov scored the other goals for the local favorites.
In his first game since January 11, Jack Eichel didn't record a point for the Knights. The one, recovering from a knee injury, finished the game with a margin of -1 and directed five pucks towards the opponent's cage.
Daniil Tarasov was also very strong between the posts for the Blue Jackets with 37 saves on 40 shots.