We don’t know whether this will be Alex Ovechkin’s final season as a Washington Capital or not, but there’s never a bad time to reflect back on two decades of being treated to this amazing talent. So each game day throughout the 2025-26 season, we’re going to be picking an Ovechkin moment to remember against that day’s opponent as we look back at an incredible career.
First Career Hat Trick – January 13, 2006
It didn’t take long for fans to realize just how special Alex Ovechkin was as a player. By the midpoint of his rookie season, he’d already scored some incredible goals, made some huge hits, and generally established himself as an edge-of-your-seat kind of player. What he hadn’t done yet, however, was score a hat trick.
He took care of that little business on a January visit out west to visit the Ducks in Anaheim.
After a scoreless first period, Ovechkin opened the middle frame with a bang, blowing past not one but two Anaheim defenders before flipping a nifty backhand past the goaltender for his first of the night. About four minutes later, he laid out what is still probably one of his better-known checks when he absolutely leveled hulking blueliner Vitaly Vishnevski, who had been trying to stand Ovechkin up at the blue line (and learned very quickly not to do that):
The second goal of the evening would follow shortly after, as Ovechkin stick-handled around another Anaheim defender (and almost around himself) before a spin-o-rama shot found the top corner.
The Ducks would tie things up late in the second period, and after another scoreless period in the third, the stage was set for some dramatics from a man quickly becoming known for them – and he delivered.
With two minutes left in overtime, Ovechkin pulled out another of his signature moves, using the defenseman as a shield and changing up his shot juuuuust enough to fool the goalie. Game over, Caps win, Ovechkin gets his very first hat trick in electric style and hits the 30-goal mark for the first time (of many, many, many times to come.)
You can relive the whole evening below, including Ovechkin’s iconic (and completely accidental) swimming celebrations…perfect for a building known as the Pond.