Capitals Blast Oilers, 7-3; Alex Ovechkin Scores Hat Trick

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Photo: X/@CurtK

The Washington Capitals thumped the Edmonton Oilers, 7-3, Sunday afternoon at Capital One Arena in the District. Capitals’ captain Alex Ovechkin scored three goals, his 880th, 881st and 882nd career goals in the NHL. He now needs just 13 goals to break Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record.

The Capitals have scored 15 goals in their first two games since returning from the Four-Nations tournament break. The victory improves the Capitals’ record to 38-11-8 (84 points) on the season.

LINEUP

Charlie Lindgren (12-9-3, 2.63 GAA, .902 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Capitals. Calvin Pickard (14-5-0, 2.80 GAA, .899 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Oilers. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:

Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Aliaksei Protas
Connor McMichael —Pierre-Luc Dubois — Tom Wilson
Andrew Mangiapane – Lars Eller — Ethen Frank
Brandon Duhaime — Nic Dowd — Taylor Raddysh

Rasmus Sandin — John Carlson
Martin Fehervary — Matt Roy
Jakob Chychrun — Trevor Van Riemsdyk

Charlie Lindgren
Logan Thompson

Scratched: Jakub Vrana, Dylan McIlrath, Alexander Alexeyev.

Injured: Sonny Milano (upper-body), Nicklas Backstrom (hip), T.J. Oshie (back).

1ST PERIOD

The Oilers opened the scoring early in the opening stanza on a power play goal from Leon Draisaitl (42) at 1:42. R. Nugent-Hopkins (21) and C. McDavid (50) had the helpers.

The Capitals tied it up late in the first period on Tom Wilson’s 26th goal of the campaign at 17:15. Pierre-Luc Dubois (35) and Matt Roy (16) had the assists.

The Capitals took their first lead of the afternoon in the final minute of the period on a power play goal from Jakob Chychrun (17) at 19:36. Dylan Strome (39) and Tom Wilson (19) had the helpers.

The period concluded with the Capitals holding the 2-1 lead. The Capitals led in five-on-five shot attempts, 22-11, and expected goals for, 1.32 to 0.30.

2ND PERIOD

The Capitals made it 3-1 on Alex Ovechkin’s 27th goal of the season at 8:53 off the middle frame. Dylan Strome (40) and Aliaksei Protas (25) had the helpers. The goal was Ovechkin’s 880th career goal in the NHL.

Alex Ovechkin made it 4-1 late in the frame on a power play blast from his office at 18:39. Jakob Chychrun (22) had the lone assists.

The Capitals made it 5-1 on Connor McMichael’s 20th goal of the season at 19:45. John Carlson (33) had the primary assist.

The period concluded with the Capitals leading 5-1. The Capitals led in five-on-five shots, 15-9 in the middle frame and 38-21 after two periods.

3RD PERIOD

The Oilers cut the Capitals lead to 5-2 on a tally from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (16) at 6:35.

Dylan Strome restored the Capitals four-goal lead with a rebound tally at 10:38. Aliaksei Protas (27) and John Carlson (34) had the helpers.

The Oilers added a late goal on Jeff Skinner’s 11th goal of the season, to make it 6-3.

Alex Ovechkin scored an empty net goal for the hat trick, to make it 7-3. It was,Ovechkin;s 32nd career hat trick.

That would be the final.

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.

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