Ryan has first NHL hat trick, Oilers hand Panthers third straight loss

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Derek Ryan scored his first NHL hat trick for the Edmonton Oilers in a 4-3 win against the Florida Panthers at FLA Live Arena on Saturday.

Ryan, who had four two-goal games in the NHL, scored four goals in 47 games this season. At 35 years, 59 days, he became the oldest player in Oilers history to score a hat trick, passing Ethan Moreau (33 years, 118 days; Jan. 18, 2009).
"Pretty happy obviously," Ryan said. "It's a big win on the road. Getting my first hat trick in the NHL at the ripe age of 35 feels pretty good."
Mikko Koskinen made 44 saves, and Connor McDavid had two assists for the Oilers (29-20-3), who are 6-2-0 since Jay Woodcroft replaced Dave Tippett as coach Feb. 10.

Aleksander Barkov scored twice for the Panthers (35-13-5), who have lost the first three games of a five-game homestand, getting outscored 16-10. They lost three regulation games in their first 26 home games prior.
"Lots of credit to their goalie," Barkov said. "He played unreal. I think he was the biggest reason for their win. At the same time, we get our chances, we get our shots, but we didn't get that second effort. Not enough guys at the net, not enough rebounds."
Jonathan Huberdeau had an assist to extend his point streak to 10 games (17 points; two goals, 15 assists) for Florida. Sergei Bobrovsky made 18 saves.
Ryan gave Edmonton a 1-0 lead at 10:14 of the first period before Anton Lundell tied it 1-1 at 11:50.
Barkov scored to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal at 16:38.
"You need to realize how hard it is to win in this league," Florida coach Andrew Brunette said. "The focus of 60 minutes, not 58, not 59, not 40 like the other night (a 6-3 loss to Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday). Every little puck counts, every little play counts. It's a good learning experience. We haven't learned all week."

Ryan scored his second at 7:29 of the second period with a wrist shot from the right circle to tie the game 2-2.
Leon Draisaitl gave the Oilers a 3-2 lead at 10:04 with a power-play goal when his shot from the right face-off dot deflected off Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas.
Ryan completed his hat trick to make it 4-2 at 19:16 off a pass from Evander Kane.
"I'm proud of him," Woodcroft said. "He's been a heck of a hockey player on the last couple of weeks. He's really shown some pop in his step with his increased role and responsibility. To see a teammate like that get rewarded with three goals, that whole dressing room was ecstatic."

Barkov made it 4-3 at 15:51 of the third period with his second power-play goal.
Koskinen, who allowed six goals on 28 shots in a 6-0 loss against Florida at Edmonton on Jan. 20, is 6-0-1 with a 2.63 goals-against average and .915 save percentage in eight games (seven starts) since.
"Unbelievable," Ryan said. "I feel like he made a dozen top saves there. He was dialed in and on his game. That's a pretty high-power offense over there; they're going to get their chances and Mikko was ready to bail us out when they did."
NOTES:Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins sustained an upper-body in the first period and did not return. There was no update after the game. … Huberdeau's point streak is the longest active in the NHL and the ninth double-digit point streak in Panthers history. … Ryan became the eighth player in NHL history to score his first hat trick at 35 or older and the first since Shane Doan (35 years, 89 days) did so for the Phoenix Coyotes on Jan. 7, 2012. … The game included each of the top three scorers in the NHL entering Saturday: Huberdeau (74 points), Draisaitl (73) and McDavid (73). It was the first game this late in a season (minimum 800 games played) to include the top three scoring leaders since March 8, 2009, when the Pittsburgh Penguins (Evgeni Malkin, first; Sidney Crosby, third) played the Washington Capitals (Alex Ovechkin, second).