Ovechkin’s second straight hat-trick powers Capitals
NEW YORK: Alexander Ovechkin recorded a hat-trick to pass Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux for 10th place and tie Steve Yzerman for ninth place on the NHL’s all-time goals list and the Washington Capitals rallied for a 6-4 victory over the hosts New York Islanders on Saturday afternoon.
Ovechkin tied Lemieux midway through the first period with a breakaway goal but after his 690th goal, the Capitals did little offensively until their comeback bid in the third to win their third straight game.
Ovechkin got his 691st career goal on a spectacular play 5:18 minutes into the third when he scored while falling to the ice after making a move through the right circle. He then tied Yzerman by capping Washington’s comeback with an empty-net goal with less than a minute remaining.
Ovechkin recorded his 26th career hat-trick and posted a three-goal tally for the second straight game.
Tanner Pearson collected one goal and one assist, while goaltender Thatcher Demko made 17 saves as hosts Vancouver beat San Jose 4-1 and moved atop the Pacific Division standings.
The Canucks, who have won four of five games overall and eight straight at home, are one point ahead of the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, Vegas Golden Knights and Arizona Coyotes in the standings. It’s the first time the top five teams in a division have been separated by one point since it happened with the Norris Division on Jan 1, 1987.
San Jose, who managed only three shots in the first period, received a boost when Barclay Goodrow made it a one-goal game at 7:09 minutes of the third period.
Goalie Aaron Dell made 35 saves for the Sharks, who have dropped three straight games and have fallen 12 points behind the Canucks.
Cale Makar and Andre Burakovsky scored 22 seconds apart late in the second period, Nathan MacKinnon and Tyson Jost also scored, and Colorado beat St Louis 5-3 in Denver.
MacKinnon and Burakovsky each added an assist, Ian Cole had two assists and Philipp Grubauer stopped 21 shots. Gabriel Landeskog scored into an empty net with 1.8 seconds left.
David Perron and Alex Pietrangelo each had a goal and an assist, Oskar Sundqvist also scored and Zach Sanford and Ryan O’Reilly had two assists each for the Blues.