BLOG: Bouchard's historic five points & hat trick headline NHL Opening Night

EDMONTON, AB – Evan Bouchard’s campaign for the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenceman started better than anybody could’ve expected on Tuesday night with a record-setting hat trick and five-point night from No. 2 of the Edmonton Oilers.

Considering we’re talking about last year’s points leader on the blueline, who contributed 95 points (21 goals) and finished fourth in Norris voting, that says a lot about what the 26-year-old accomplished on Opening Night despite the Oilers coming away with just a single point in a 6-5 overtime defeat to the Canucks.

With three goals and two assists, Bouchard stood alone at the end of Opening Night as the NHL's top scorer, leading the list of standout performances by helping the Oilers erase a three-goal deficit against Vancouver to force overtime.

Bouchard’s second-career hat trick was only the third by an NHL defenceman on Opening Night – and the first in over 45 years – joining Mark Howe (Oct. 9, 1980) and Bert Cobeau (Dec. 25, 1919) on the exclusive century-spanning list.

Picking up five points, Bouchard became the first defenseman in NHL history to record five points in a season opener, with Kevin Stevens (6 on Oct. 5, 1990 with PIT) being the only one to ever record more. He’s also the third blueliner in the past 30 years to record at least four points in a season opener, with only Drew Doughty (Oct. 14, 2021) and Mike Green (Oct. 5, 2017) doing the same.

Bouchard picked his spot on a screened Kevin Lankinen with 3:34 left in the first period, then completed a pass from Connor McDavid in the slot a period later to tie it up for the Oilers a second time, making it 2-2 at the end of two periods.

After the Canucks scored three times in a 4:05 span early in the third to make it an uphill climb for the Oilers, Bouchard factored in with the secondary helper on Vasily Podkolzin’s first of two goals, only to complete his hat trick 24 seconds later on a quick release that went bar down through a double screen to bring down the hats onto the Rogers Place ice.

Bouchard’s last hat trick came earlier this year on Jan. 24, 2026 against the Washington Capitals, and doing so again in the same calendar year made him the fifth defeneman to achieve the feat alongside his former assistant coach Paul Coffey (2 in 1985), Denis Potvin (2 in 1978), and Bobby Orr (3 in 1974, 2 in 1975 and 1973).

Twice, Bouchard found his way through screens with terrific seeing-eye shots, but all the post-game praise from him went to his teammates for standing in the way.

“One of those nights,” Bouchard said. “Without those guys in front, none of them were going in. Hyms was battling. Podz, he's always battling in front of those guys. Without them, they wouldn't have gone in.”