MONTREAL -- Columbus Blue Jackets forward Cam Atkinson scored three goals Monday, and in doing so made one big save.
Before Columbus' 5-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens, Blue Jackets fan Maddie Wright held up a sign that read, "Dad said if '13' scores on my birthday we get a dog." Atkinson, who wears No. 13, delivered on Wright's wish for her ninth birthday, getting the third hat trick of his NHL career.
On Tuesday, Atkinson doubled down, saying he is going to buy Wright the dog, which will be a rescue.
"Hopefully, she still names it after me, but, yeah, I'm looking forward to meeting her and her family when, obviously, probably, I get back from the (All-Star) break," Atkinson said. "But it's a great thing, and I think they said that they're going to buy a rescue dog, which is even better, so it's all good."
Atkinson would have liked to have had the opportunity to meet Wright and her family after the game in Columbus on Monday, but it was impossible because of the quick turnaround for the game in Montreal on Tuesday.
"I just saw she had a sign during warmups and I'm sure the media caught on pretty fast," Atkinson said. "And my girlfriend caught on pretty fast and she wanted to meet Maddie and her family afterwards, but it was such short notice that we had to fly out [Monday] night, and I think we already set it up where we're going to meet her and hopefully the dog when we get back from the All-Star break."
It was the second straight day that an NHL player scored a family a new dog. On Sunday, Ottawa Senators forward Bobby Ryan came through with a goal for a boy who held up a sign that said his father promised to get him a dog if Ryan scored.
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