Taylor Hall netted the New Jersey Devils overtime-winning goal against the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday. That goal should officially put him in the Hart Trophy conversation.
Taylor Hall for MVP has been a campaign going around New Jersey Devils fans for most of the season. While it’s hard to argue the pure nature of the award being the most valuable player to his team being Hall, the numbers just made the argument hard to make. He isn’t leading the NHL in any category.
Hall’s 62nd point on the season just barely puts him in the top 15 in the league, and still 15 points off the league leader Nikita Kucherov. He’s around eighth in points per game with 1.15. His 24th goal ties him for 17th in the league.
These numbers don’t scream “Hart Trophy” but those numbers don’t tell the entire story.
What’s nuts is Taylor Hall hasn’t played a game where he didn’t record a point since 2017. It’s February 18th. Officially, the NHL recognizes this as an 11 game point streak, but Hall has scored in 18 straight games in which he’s played.
Tonight wasn’t the first time Hall was able to score the game-winning goal in overtime. Back on January 18th, Hall was able to put one past Brayden Holtby to help the Devils finally beat the division leading Washington Capitals.
There, Hall didn’t waste any time poking a puck past Evgeny Kuznetsov and skating it alone towards goal. He then roofed it past Holtby to send the Devils home with a win just 34 seconds left in overtime.
Sunday night’s win was much different. The Devils were coming off a back to back game. Just 24 hours earlier, they were starting the game against Tampa Bay, yet here they were in overtime against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Devils had just 23 seconds left to avoid the shootout, and Hall took a pass from Kyle Palmieri. He was able to land it on his stick, take a shot, then push in the rebound past Cam Ward.
The shot was insane, and finally has some of the national media members talking Taylor.
How about @NJDevils star Taylor Hall for the Hart Trophy? Points in 18 straight games. The clear leader of these Devils
— E.J. Hradek (@EJHradek_NHL) February 19, 2018
Connor’s going to get more Hart votes than Taylor Hall and the NHL Awards will be held in Joke City this year. https://t.co/W9425yCanP
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) February 19, 2018
I'd love to see Taylor Hall win the Hart Trophy only so David Staples can write a pathetically thirsty, logic-twisting column about why the Oilers made the right move trading him for Adam Larsson.
— Dan (@cultureoflosing) February 19, 2018
Hall is finally getting the love he deserved all season. He’s well over a point-per-game player. He continuously makes things happen by himself. Also, he makes his teammates so much better.
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If it wasn’t for Hall, Nico Hischier would not be this good. Hischier himself has a four-goal streak, and the confidence he’s grown with Hall is to thank for that. Then look at the right winger position. Jesper Bratt is a sixth-round rookie who came in with no expectations. Now, he’s third on the team with 33 points.
Kyle Palmieri was moved to first-line wing a few games ago, and he finally found his shot. He’s scored four 5v5 goals this month, after having zero in November, December or January.
Hall needs to be a Hart Trophy finalist. There is no question about it. He doesn’t need to win the Art Ross Trophy (most points) to be considered the most valuable. It’s hard to argue the Devils wouldn’t be near the bottom of the league without him. Instead, they have 70 points (as much as they did last year), and are just three points off the division-leading Capitals. That’s all thanks to Taylor Hall.