LAS VEGAS — Alex Ovechkin recorded his first hat trick of the season, scoring three targets Sunday evening for the Washington Capitals of their 5-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights.
It was his first hat trick since Dec. 31, 2022, towards the Montreal Canadiens and thirty first of his profession, the sixth most in NHL historical past. Vegas turned the nineteenth workforce that Ovechkin scored a minimum of three targets towards in a recreation.
Ovechkin, 39, accomplished the trouble with an empty-net objective with 37 seconds left, and with 866 profession targets, he’s now simply 29 targets away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL goal-scoring document.
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“I feel we had fairly good alternatives in earlier video games to try this,” Ovechkin stated of the empty-netter. “So, lastly, we did it.”
The hat trick was additionally his sixteenth on the street. The one gamers in NHL historical past with extra are Corridor of Fame forwards Mario Lemieux (19), Gretzky (19) and Marcel Dionne (17).
“It is enjoyable to be part of,” Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson stated of Ovechkin’s chase. “I like being his teammate. He is the face of this franchise, the face of our dressing room. The man retains it free each time, and he is plenty of enjoyable. It is very particular to be on his workforce — and him figuring out my title.”
Ovechkin’s effort pushed him nearer to a different, albeit much less grand, Gretzky document. In response to ESPN Analysis, together with his 176th profession multigoal recreation, he’s now 13 shy of Gretzky’s NHL milestone of 189.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
