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TJ Oshie scores hat trick in first game after his father’s death

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TJ Oshie had the biggest game of his career and it happened during one of the most difficult times of his life.

A day after announcing his father, Tim “Coach” Oshie, died, TJ returned to the team and scored a hat trick against the New York Rangers. It was Osh’s fourth hatty of his career.

When he sat down on the bench after his third goal, Oshie broke down in tears, overwhelmed by emotion.

Goal 1

Oshie’s first goal came in the opening seconds of the second period. Oshie took a stretch pass from Dillon to score a short-side snap shot on Rangers goalie Alexandar Georgiev.

Goal 2

Again on the power play, Oshie chopped at a rebound off Dmitry Orlov’s point shot to pot his second of the night, putting the Caps up 2-0 halfway into the game.

Goal 3

Oshie’s third goal of the night, the 21st of his season, the 259th of his career, was a pool shot from the Caps blue line. The puck sailed through traffic and into New York’s empty net.

The entire bench mobbed Oshie after he scored.

Once he sat down at the bench, Oshie broke down in tears as his teammates patted him on the back.

The Capitals would win 4-2.

As the final horn sounded, Oshie received a long, loving embrace from Nicklas Backstrom.

“I saw he got emotional there at the end,” Backstrom said. “I felt like he needed a hug. I told him, ‘You’re the strongest person I know.’ First of all, it’s impressive that he actually played today and how he led the way. It’s got to be so tough dealing with that. I can only imagine.

“We showed we’re a family and we’re in this together,” Backstrom added. “His loss is everyone’s loss so we feel for him.”

Oshie ended the night with a game-high seven shots, two hits, and went 8-for-10 in the faceoff dot. He was named the number one star.

“Just him being here honestly is enough of a sobering thing. He’s our rock. He’s our heartbeat guy,” John Carlson said to NBCSN. “We know Coach from over the years What an amazing human being he was. He lit up every single room he was ever in. For TJ to come in and want to be with the guys right away and not take more time, was probably what Coach would want him to do. We stand behind that guy for anything and everything. He’s the heartbeat of our team. There was definitely some high emotions for guys that were just proud of him for going out and making Coach proud.”

Nic Dowd summed it up best.

“We are trying to be there for him and take care of him and he ends up taking care of us.”

RMNB Coverage of Caps at Rangers

Screenshot courtesy of NBCSN

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