WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin scored his 880th, 881st and 882nd career goals to move 13 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record and give the Washington Capitals a 7-3 victory over Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday.
Ovechkin beat Calvin Pickard clean with a wrist shot just before the midway mark of the second period off a pass from linemate Dylan Strome for his first of the game. He got his second on the power play 10 minutes later and put the puck into an empty net with 2:38 left for the hat trick.
It marked Ovechkin’s second hat trick this season, after posting one on Nov. 17 on the road against the Vegas Golden Knights. According to ESPN Research, Ovechkin is the third player in NHL history to record multiple hat tricks at age 39 or older joining, Gordie Howe (4) and Johnny Bucyk (2).
With his first goal against Pickard, Ovechkin now has scored on 181 different goaltenders, more than any other player, extending a record he set earlier last month when he surpassed Jaromir Jagr. With his 134th game-winning goal, he also tied Jagr for the most in NHL history.
Tom Wilson, Jakob Chychrun, Connor McMichael and Strome also scored, while Charlie Lindgren made 22 saves for the Capitals, who won back-to-back matinees out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break. They outscored the Oilers and Pittsburgh Penguins 15-6 and moved back atop the league standings with a 38-11-8 record.
The Oilers lost their third in a row dating back to before the break, despite Leon Draisaitl scoring his league-leading 42nd goal this season. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jeff Skinner scored in the third, long after the game got out of hand, and Pickard allowed six goals on 32 shots.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.