Rugged Former Oiler Hits New Milestone

Caleb Kerney

Nov 30, 2024, 14:53

Caleb Kerney

Nov 30, 2024, 14:53

This former Edmonton Oilers forward went from healthy scratch to Gordie Howe Hat Trick.

Robert Edwards-Imagn Images - Rugged Former Oiler Hits New Milestone

EDMONTON -- You can't keep a good guy down.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlAhEHbXCHw[/embed]

A player can get the short end of the hockey stick when they leave a team. One former Edmonton Oilers forward felt that two summers ago.

Klim Kostin was dealt to the Detroit Red Wings (along with Kailer Yamamoto) to free up cap space for the Oilers. Kostin would sign a two-year deal worth $2 million a season.

The rugged Russian played 33 games for the Red Wings before being dealt to the Sharks. He was given more opportunity and ice time there and made the most of it, scoring 10 points in 19 games.

Things had appeared to be going his way until this season happened.

Since the start of the season, he's been a healthy scratch 12 times. Recently, he had a stretch of spending eight straight games in the press box.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q2GlOIFndc[/embed]

On Friday night, he arguably had his best game of the season. Despite only playing 9:48, he made his presence felt by recording his second-ever Gordie Howe Hat Trick.

He kicked things off by scoring his first goal of the season at 16:25 of the first period. Kostin then got the primary assist on Mikael Grandlund's 10th of the season with a nice dish to give the Sharks the lead over the Seattle Kraken.

Then, in the third period, he dropped the gloves with Will Borgen. The clip above does not indicate whether this hit on Granlund caused Kostin to exchange fisticuffs with the Kraken defender.

The last time Kostin notched a Gordie Howe Hat Trick was with the Oilers on December 7, 2022.

Hopefully, Kostin's performance will earn him more playing time with the new coach, and he can find some consistency in his game, too.

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