Colorado Avalanche right winger Victor Olofsson of Ornskoldsvik, Sweden recorded his first National Hockey League hat trick on Tuesday. It occurred on a special night of the NHL calendar as all 32 teams were in action. The night of hockey was known as Frozen Frenzy. However, if you lived in Canada and tried to watch the games on the Sportsnet website, you were simply out of luck. That is because the website crashed as users were trying to watch the NHL regular season games or the World Series.
One of the most intriguing games on the schedule was in Denver, as the Avalanche ended the Devils’s eight game-winning streak with a dominant 8-4 victory. The Avalanche must be thrilled with the early production so far this year from Olofsson, who came through with a five-point night.
Inside look at the hat trick
Olofsson, who is in his first year with the Avalanche, put Colorado up 3-0 at 2:31 of the second period. Jack Ahcan of Savage, Minnesota, and fellow Swede and Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog of Stockholm had the assists.
Olofsson’s next two goals both came in the third period. At 3:10 of the final frame, Olofsson put the Avalanche up 7-4 from Nathan MacKinnon of Halifax, Nova Scotia and defenseman Cale Makar of Calgary, Alberta. Olofsson then completed the scoring with a goal with two minutes and 22 seconds left in the game. Jack Drury of New York City, New York picked up the lone assist.
Olofsson’s 2025-26 NHL statistics
Olofsson has three goals and seven assists for 10 points in 11 games. He is a -1 with four power-play points, 33 shots on goal, two blocked shots, three hits, three takeaways, and nine giveaways.
Other notable storylines from Frozen Frenzy Night
There was a second hat trick as Connor Bedard of North Vancouver, British Columbia (the first round pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft) notched his first ever three goal game in a commanding 7-3 Blackhawks win over the Ottawa Senators. We have seen a drastic improvement of Bedard’s overall game this season. Heading into the season, he was a disastrous -80 after his first 150 NHL games. However, so far this year he is a respectable +4.
We also saw two shutouts on Tuesday. Jake Oettinger of Lakeville, Minnesota made 24 saves as the Dallas Stars blanked the Washington Capitals 1-0. Meanwhile on the west coast, Jonathan Quick of Milford, Connecticut made 23 saves as the New York Rangers blanked the Vancouver Canvas 2-0.
