There are days to debate and then there are days to just sit back and pay respect. This afternoon, Taylor Hall scored three straight in the 3rd to erase a 3-1 deficit and helped lead Edmonton to their third straight win at Rexall Place while sending the Thrashers deeper into the abyss. The talk going into the game was if Blake Wheeler and Mark Stuart could help right the ship. But by the time the final horn sounded on a 5-3 Oilers’ victory at Rexall Place, the only talk was about Taylor Hall and his goal scoring explosion.
Saturday afternoon’s contest hardly looked like the kind of game that would have us singing Hall’s praises. Come to think of it, for the first 40 minutes of action, it wasn’t the kind of game that would have us praising anyone in an Edmonton jersey. The Thrashers had the lead and the look of a team that was getting a fresh start with fresh faces in the lineup. If only the game lasted two periods. Unfortunately for Atlanta, the 3rd period and Taylor Hall’s scoring spree will make just about everyone forget about what could have been.
It was only 8 months ago when the biggest debate in the hockey world was Taylor vs. Tyler. There were those who thought Taylor Hall had been born and bred to be the next great star in the NHL, and there were fans and scouts who thought Tyler Seguin was so similar to a young Steve Yzerman that it would be crazy to pass him up. It’s far too early to make a definitive statement on the careers of a pair of teenagers, but on days like this all you can do is sit back and enjoy the show. This just in: Taylor Hall isn’t going to be good one day. He’s good right now.
The three 3rd period goals give him 20 goals on the season—making him the 4th rookie to reach the 20-goal plateau this season. Mix in his 18 assists and he’s currently 2nd in the league in rookie scoring (only behind Jeff Skinner). It’s games like Saturday’s that have the “wow” factor, though. He had 3 goals, 9 shots on goal, a failed break away, and created at least two scoring chances when his teammates should have buried their opportunities. He showed flashes of being one of the strongest players on the ice when he charged to the front of the net. He showed flashes of being the fastest player on the ice when he constantly got behind the Atlanta defense on odd-man rushes. And with the three goals, he showed that his shot made him unquestionably the most dangerous player on the ice.
There’s a certain quality that superstars have that most NHLers will never experience—some people call it the “it” factor. Hall controlled the game. It wasn’t the shots, it wasn’t the odd-man rushes, and it was just the way the game flowed. When he was out there, the Oilers were a dangerous team—when he wasn’t, they weren’t. He was the player you looked for during the entire game and when he jumped over the boards, you held your breath because you had no idea what he’d do next. It was that “edge-of-your-seat” factor that only a handful of guys are capable of producing—and he did it 19-years-old.
Isn’t this what we expect from a #1 overall pick?
