Alex Ovechkin tallied a hat trick and added an assist while becoming just the third player in NHL history to notch 800 career goals as the visiting Washington Capitals rolled to a 7-3 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night.
Washington extended its winning streak to five games while sending the Blackhawks to their 12th loss in the past 13 games. Ovechkin asserted his influence just 24 seconds in, corralling a puck in front of the net on a second opportunity and knocking it past Chicago goaltender Petr Mrazek.
Ovechkin scored on the power play less than eight minutes later. He collected his 29th hat trick while moving within one goal of Gordie Howe for second all-time when he scored at 6:34 of the third period.
Trying to stunt Washington's hot streak, Chicago trimmed the deficit to 2-1 in the final minute of the first period, as Tyler Johnson scored in his return from a 20-game absence following an ankle injury.
A Trevor van Riemsdyk goal at 4:56 of the second period put the Capitals back on top by two, but the Blackhawks recovered with a Jonathan Toews power-play goal at 11:38.
ADVERTISEMENT
Washington responded with four of the final five goals of the night. Nic Dowd, Ovechkin and Anthony Mantha each scored over a span of 11:41 bridging the second and third periods to extend the lead to 6-2. Blackhawks fans saluted Ovechkin with a standing ovation when his hat trick gave him his 800th goal.
Only Wayne Gretzky (894) and Howe (801) have more.
Charlie Lindgren stopped 26 of 29 shots to earn the victory for Washington.
Mrazek made 23 saves for Chicago, which has been outscored 16-4 while losing the past four games.
Mantha had a goal and an assist for the Capitals, while Conor Sheary, Garnet Hathaway and Nicolas Aube-Kubel each contributed two assists.
Max Domi of Chicago and Dmitry Orlov of Washington scored in the final 1:09.
Ovechkin has 26 points (14 goals, 12 assists) in 22 career games vs. the Blackhawks.
--Field Level Media
ADVERTISEMENT
The Trust Project
