PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – “It’s the Pittsburgh air.”
Part of what West Mifflin’s Logan Cooley after the Utah forward scored a hat trick to help the Mammoth beat the Pens 4-3 in overtime.
The 22-year-old had a number of family and friends in a suite at PPG Paints Arena as he scored his first three goals of his career against the team he grew up admiring.
“It means everything,” Cooley said. “Just growing up here and having the support of my family and everything they sacrificed. It truly means so much to me. Without them, I’m not here.”
“It’s kinda nice to get payback a little bit and have them all come together and watch a game and keep cheering me on. I got such a supportive family, happy to have them.”
The first goal came off a pass from Pens defenseman Erik Karlsson 4:40 into the game. A miscommunication as Karlsson was trying to clear the puck, it went right on Cooley’s stick and he beat Arturs Silovs high, glove side to make it 1-0.
On the second, he 22-year-old motored up the middle of the ice, transitioned a pass from his skate to his stick, split right through the middle, looking like the Mario Lemieux statue in the front of PPG Paints Arena, to again beat Silovs glove side and a 2-0 Utah lead.
Karlsson would score on a sweet toe drag for the only goal of the second period. Rickard Rakell beat the second-best power play with a short-handed goal at 9:01 of the third period and then Ben Kindel, who last week left a Utah hospital and returned for his first game Thursday, scored on a greasy goal in front to give the Pens a 3-2 lead with 24 seconds left.
That’s when another Pittsburgher helped Cooley out, the primary assist to Vince Trocheck on a puck that was hanging in mid-air and Cooley batted in with his backhand to tie the game with 0.9 seconds left.
Cooley becomes the first player in NHL history with a hat trick and game-tying or go-ahead goal with one second or less left in regulation in the same game-per OptaSTATS.
Utah would win the game on a Mikhail Sergachev goal in overtime.
“I haven’t scored against these guys and to get three was obviously special and to get the win means even more,” Cooley said. “It’s great to be in this city, I love this city.”
The kid who grew up watching the Pens, going through the Little Pens Learn to Play Program to Pens Elite to being a first-round pick in the NHL Draft. Now a hat trick against the team he idolized, especially its captain.
“To have a guy like (Sidney) Crosby here and what he’s done for this city,” Cooley said. “It’s cool to lean on him as a young kid here. They’ve been such an amazing team for so long, won Cups. I was fortunate enough to be in this city to be able to watch them every night. Those are the guys I looked up to and I’m super fortunate to be from here and be able to grow up through the Penguins organization.”
LISTEN West Mifflin native talks about scoring 3 & what Pens mean to him
LISTEN West Mifflin native talks about scoring 3 & what Pens mean to him
