Kings fall as Ovechkin nears 700 club

Capitals star records his 27th career hat trick and raises career goals total to 698.

WASHINGTON — Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin doesn’t think he’s ever been this hot in a 15-year career that has included eight NHL scoring titles.

If he continues at his present pace, he’ll join the 700 career goals club by this weekend.

Ovechkin recorded his 27th career hat trick and raised his career goals total to 698 during a furious fiveminute stretch of the third period, rallying Washington to a 4-2 victory over the Kings on Tuesday night and continuing an incredible stretch for the 34-year-old.

With 14 goals in his last seven games, he’s closer to becoming the eighth player in an elusive NHL club than many would’ve suspected a month ago. Though there isn’t much time to reflect on it.

“Not yet,” he said. “I’m still playing. But after the year, yeah, I’m pretty sure me and my family and my friends are going to talk about it.”

Ovechkin’s career-best recent flurry has pushed him to 40 goals on the season and back into the top spot in his chase of a ninth Maurice Richard Trophy, two ahead of Boston’s David Pastrnak. The Capitals also lead the Bruins by a point in the race for the President’s Cup.

And No. 700 could come as early as Saturday against the Philadelphia Flyers, which would be fine by him — he’d prefer to reach the milestone sooner rather than later.

“Yeah, obviously,” Ovechkin said. “If you’re going to think about it too much, you’re never going to get it. So I have to go out there and play.”

Even within this recent run, Tuesday night’s performance to single-handedly lift the Capitals to victory stood out.

With 6:10 remaining, slightly more than two minutes after the Capitals fell behind, Ovechkin one-timed a feed from T.J. Oshie to tie the score at 2-all. Seventy seconds later, he rebounded his own miss off goaltender Jonathan Quick’s pads and put Washington in front.

He added an empty-netter with 1:46 to play, moving within 10 goals of Mike Gartner for seventh on the NHL’s all-time goals list.

“In less than five minutes, he took over the game,” Capitals coach Todd Reirden said. “And we won the game because of that. That’s what superstars do.

We’re fortunate to have him.”

John Carlson added his 14th goal and 50th and 51st assists for Washington, which rebounded after opening a four-game homestand with a loss to Pittsburgh. Braden Holtby made 29 saves in the win, including a flurry of impressive stops in the second period in which the Kings were clear aggressors.

Jeff Carter scored his 15th and 16th goals for the Kings, putting Los Angeles briefly in front when he redirected Drew Doughty’s pass to the left post with 8:27 to play.

Quick stopped 20 shots in the seventh loss in eight games for last-place Los Angeles, which sits five points adrift of the next-worst team in the Western Conference.

“Our ability to close and finish out games hasn’t been very good,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “And that’s the next step in our evolution.”