It was March 17, 1982, St. Patrick’s Day, and the New York Rangers were playing the Philadelphia Flyers at Madison Square Garden. The two teams were battling it out for second place in the Patrick Division. Ranger goalie Steve Weeks had not been beaten in 11 games. Center Mike Rogers had a 14-game point scoring streak, one away from setting a new team record.
But it was diminutive rookie defenseman Reijo Ruotsalainen who accomplished a feat that hasn’t been duplicated in 37 years. That night, Ruotsalainen scored a hat trick, the last hat trick recorded in the regular season by a New York Ranger defenseman.