Mathieu Joseph scored four points, including a hat trick, against the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night. For the newest member of the Ottawa Senators, this is a significant accomplishment.
The Quebecer scored all his goals in the third period, including the last in an empty net. This is the first hat-trick of his career in the National Hockey League (NHL).
“You can’t do that in the NHL every night,” he told reporters after the game.
Joseph did not think he could achieve this feat and even less succeed in his very long throw in a deserted cage.
“I lost track of events. I may have missed six or seven shots off my blue line this morning [vendredi] in training so I was not really confident with this shot,” he explained with a laugh.
“Joseph was on all the pucks. It’s his best game, but he obviously worked very hard to achieve that tonight,” said head coach DJ Smith.
First outing, first victory
It was also an important night for Mads Sogaard, who was making his first start on the Bettman circuit. The Danish giant, who is considered by many to be the Senators’ goaltender of the future, did not disappoint, stopping 27 shots against the Wings.
“When you play your first matches, there is adrenaline, you are nervous, but excited. You could see that he was very happy to be there and it sent positive vibes to the rest of the team. The guys followed the plan, they didn’t fall apart and we went for the win for him,” said Joseph, who was in his fifth game with the “Sens” after four years with the Tampa Bay Lightning. .
In the locker room with his teammates, Sogaard did not hesitate to say that it was the greatest moment of his career. The 21-year-old goalkeeper still has a long way to go, but no one can take this first victory away from him.
“He looks so calm for a young man and he’s so tall that everything ricochets off him. You have to be careful, because he is young. When he gets older, it’s going to be very exciting to see what he brings to this organization,” Smith said.
With the Belleville Senators of the American League, Sogaard went 16-13-1 with a 2.87 goals-against-average and .906 save percentage. The previous year, he had been undefeated in seven starts.