1 – Number of natural hat tricks scored by Alex Ovechkin in his career, with his trio of goals against the LA Kings in last night’s win marking the first time he’s accomplished that feat. Ovechkin scored all three goals in the span of just 4:24 in the third period, his fastest hat trick to date.
It’s the first natural hat trick for the team since Nicklas Backstrom swiped a three-spot in a 4-2 win over Tampa back in 2014, and the first single-period natural hat trick (or supernatural hat trick, if you will) since Alexander Semin potted three in the second period en route to a 6-0 win over… yup, Tampa again.
Last night’s outburst brings Ovechkin up to four hat tricks on the season – including three in his last six games – which is a new personal high for a single season. Prior to the 2019-20 campaign, Ovechkin had registered three hat tricks four different times (including the last two seasons), two hat tricks twice, and just a single hat trick in five different seasons.
Los Angeles is now the 17th team that Ovechkin has dinged for three goals over the years; no one has suffered his wrath more than Ottawa, who have been the victim of an Ovechkin hat trick three times.
And to wrap it up, one more fun note on last night’s hatty, via the team: