Top 3 moments of T.J. Oshie's time with the Capitals
As the Oshbabe suited up for his 1,000th NHL game let's look back on his top Caps moments
Last night when the Washington Capitals took down the Vancouver Canucks, T.J. Oshie celebrated a historicial milestone as he suited up for his 1,000th career NHL game. Per the game notes, Oshie is the 390th skater in NHL history, the 41st active skater and the 62nd USA born skater to play in 1,000 games.
Oshie additionally became the 12th player to play in their 1,000th career game with the Capitals. He has played in 556 of his 999 career games with the Caps.
Here's a look at Oshie's best moments while donning Capitals red, white, and blue.
#3 Hat trick over the Penguins
When the Capitals traded with the St. Louis Blues for T.J. Oshie, Brian MacLellan was looking for a right wing to complement Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom. He also acquired Oshie for big playoff moments and in his very first taste of the Capitals vs. Penguins rivalary, Oshie had a hat trick for the ages in front of the home crowd.
Oshie leads the Caps in six playoff game winning goals since the trade with the Blues in exchange for Troy Brouwer and Pheonix Copley. He would go on to be a Stanley Cup champion just two short years laer.
#2 Hat trick revenge game
Yes this may have well been called his best hat tricks but when I think of Oshie I think of these nitty and gritty type of goals. Oshie goes hard in the paint sort of speak and isn't afraid to drive to the net and crash it. He's a lightning rod and after spending the first half of his career in St. Louis, he etched himself in Capitals lore forever with a hat trick against his ex team earlier this season.
Oshie talked about his trade from the Blues with Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental. I highly recommend the read as it gives an oral history with Oshie himself along with Capitals brass from that 2015 summer day when the Capitals traded for Oshie.
Everyone was happy. Even the folks who executed the trade. Long story short it took T.J. a little bit of time to adjust to the news but considered it a badge of honor to even be wanted by the Capitals. I won't quote things as I highly recommend the read but it is one heck of a story. We all remember where we were when that trade happened.
#1 Hat trick for Coach
This might as well have been called top hat tricks in T.J. Oshie's Capitals career but when I think of Oshie's top moments it's always these three. This wasn't just any hat trick, this came in the wake of Oshie's late father known by the hockey community as simply Coach. He may have lost his battle with Alzheimer's but the dad had a sky box to his son's perfect hat trick game. And a good fight night at MSG.
Oshie's goal song is Country Roads by John Denver with the popular West Virginia anthem having the crowd sing along. The Caps locker room sang along to that song after this game in the visitor's locker room. They blared that same song in the visitors locker room last night in Vancouver for a big win that kept their playoff hopes alive.
Oshie has six hat tricks in his career. He has 191 goals as a member of the Capitals in his career. That is good for ninth on the Capitals all time but second best since he joined the Caps in 2015-16. He also has 76 power play goals which is good for fifth on the franchise.
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