The Edmonton Oilers have been rewriting the record book over the past two games.

Evan Bouchard’s six-point, hat-trick performance was always going to be a hard act to follow, but the Oilers managed to put up another historic performance against the Anaheim Ducks on Monday. This time, it was his defensive partner, Mattias Ekholm, making the headlines.

The 35-year-old Swede put up three goals of his own in a 7-4 victory, which marked the first time in NHL history that a team had consecutive games where a defenceman scored a hat trick.

It was also the first of Ekholm’s career, as he told reporters after the game.

“I couldn’t buy a goal in 20 games, and then [I get] three in one,” Ekholm joked after the victory. “It’s not like I changed my game overnight to score a hat trick. Some nights you have your bounces go your way and whatnot.

“Try to enjoy this one, cause it’ll probably be my last.”

“Some nights the bounces go your way. I will try to enjoy this one because it will probably be my last.”

After registering his first career hat trick in tonight’s #Oilers win, Mattias Ekholm chats with the media. @Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/Q6SSbYar5X

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) January 27, 2026

Ekholm said that his family took in warmups and watched the first period before heading back home to go to bed. This meant that they, unfortunately, missed all the goals that he scored en route to his hat trick.

He said that he expects his oldest son, William, to most likely pull up the highlights in the morning.

“He’s seven, so he understands it more, and he will get on the highlights by himself,” Ekholm said. “I’ll say to him, but I think all three [of my kids will be excited].”

EK YA 🧢🎩👒 #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/S1YM8ZNf1v

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) January 27, 2026

Bouchard tends to be pretty tame when it comes to his celebrations, but he may have been the most excited player in Rogers Place when Ekholm secured the hat trick. Those two have been nearly inseparable as a defensive pairing over the past couple of seasons, and it appears that offensive touch is rubbing off on the veteran Swede.

It was actually Bouchard who told Ekholm about how historic his hat trick really was.

“Evan actually told me on the bench, it was a cool little moment for us,” Ekholm said. “We’ve played together for quite a while. Love playing with him, and to be able to have nights like this in back-to-back games is a pretty special moment.”

That wasn’t the only record that the Oilers broke in the victory. In the second period, Edmonton found a way to get four goals from defencemen in just 3:49. Ekholm notched two of those, while Spencer Stastney and Darnell Nurse added the others.

Mattias Ekholm, Darnell Nurse and Spencer Stastney combined for the fastest four goals by defensemen in NHL history and propelled the @EdmontonOilers to victory.#NHLStats: https://t.co/g7nlDMapuA pic.twitter.com/YdmpTDUgsM

— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) January 27, 2026

Before this weekend, you’d have to go back 20 years to find the last time an Oilers defenceman scored a hat trick. Now, the club has found a way to nab two in the span of the last three days.

It doesn’t get much better than that in the Alberta capital.