Number 3: Forsberg Scores Back-to-back Hat Tricks
Scoring goals in the NHL is no easy task. So one could imagine how difficult it is to score a hat trick. To put into perspective, according to NBC Sports there were 59 total hat tricks in the regular season. There are a total of 1,271 total NHL games played in a season. This means that less than 5% of games featured a single hat trick.
It has been established how hard scoring a hat trick is, and for Filip Forsberg to do it in back-to-back games is almost unheard of. The last time this was accomplished in the NHL was seven years ago in 2010 when Alex Burrows completed the feat for the Vancouver Canucks.
Forsberg’s moment was a huge eye-opener. Nashville fans were already aware of how good of a player Forsberg is, but this put him into the national spotlight. This was Forsberg’s way of putting the rest of the NHL on notice and letting them know that he, and his team, are for real. The team’s play moving forward backed this statement as well, as the Predators went 11-3-2 in their next 16. Forsberg may have made the moment, but what was most impressive was that he helped propel his team forward when they needed him most.