A day after putting eight goals up on their rivals in Pittsburgh, the Capitals hit the ice and promptly dropped another touchdown, this time against a much tougher Edmonton Oilers squad.
It was one of the team’s better all-around performances of the season, keeping arguably the best player in the league fairly quiet (just one assist on the day for Connor McDavid – thanks, PLD) while the Caps’ stars once again shone bright. None, however, shone brighter than Alex Ovechkin, who scored three of the team’s seven goals yesterday to put himself within 13 of passing Wayne Gretzky.
The first tally for the big man came just past the halfway point of the second period, with the Caps up 2-1. The newly reunited trio of Aliaksei Protas, Dylan Strome, and Ovechkin headed up ice on a 3-on-2. Edmonton’s defense seemed to momentarily forget that this was that Alex Ovechkin and allowed #8 to drive the slot relatively unencumbered and fire off this slick shot past Calvin Pickard:
That first strike seemed to awaken something in Ovechkin, and after that you could feel he was itching for more. About ten minutes later, he’d get more, scoring his second of the day – a vintage shot from his office on the power play. It’s a shot that we have seen many, many times (as have 181 different goalies, none of whom have been able to stop it), but it really never gets old:
Connor McMichael and Dylan Strome added to the team’s lead, putting the Caps up 6-3 late in the third period. It was at this point, with roughly three minutes to go in regulation, that Oilers’ coach made the fateful decision to pull the goalie…while Ovechkin remained on the ice after an icing.
As Pickard made his way to the bench, you could hear the excited murmurs in the crowd ramp up, the “O-VI!” chants rising as the puck dropped – and when Ty Emberson’s stick broke at the point, sending the puck dribbling right to the Caps’ captain, he made no mistake in sending the puck down the ice and dead-center into the empty net for the hat trick:
880, 881, and 882.
As nice as Ovechkin’s hat trick was, this was a full team win. Charlie Lindgren made some big, key saves, particularly early on, to keep it close before the Caps blew things open. Pierre-Luc Dubois and his line held McDavid and company so tightly in check that Kris Knoblauch was forced to change up his lines, with McDavid finishing the day a -3. The forwards as a whole kept driving the net and keeping the pressure on to hold and extend their lead, and the defense was locked in while also being involved in the scoring.
Just a stellar finish to a wild, high-scoring weekend of wins for the Caps as they kick off the stretch run in style. Next up, the Calgary Flames tomorrow night.