Ovechkin continues ‘amazing journey’ toward goal record with hat trick against Oilers

WASHINGTON -- Goals like the third one Alex Ovechkin scored Sunday make it feel like he might be destined to break Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goal record this season.

Sure, the Washington Capitals left wing had scored two impressive goals before that in a 7-3 victory against the Edmonton Oilers at Capital One Arena. The first was a pinpoint snap shot from the high slot on the rush that beat goalie Calvin Pickard low to the blocker side to increase Washington’s lead to 3-1 at 8:53 of the second period. The second came on one of Ovechkin’s signature one-timers from the left circle that blew past Pickard on the glove side to make it 4-1 at 18:39 of the second.

“The goals he scored tonight were huge goals in the game,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “Obviously, when you score three, they have a big impact, but the moments when they were scored, the game was highly competitive.”

Those were also both examples of Ovechkin’s world-class shot, which has been his biggest weapon in scoring 882 goals in his career, putting him 13 away from surpassing Gretzky’s total of 894. But goal No. 882 -- an empty-netter that completed his 32nd career hat trick with 2:38 remaining – seemed to have some fate mixed into it, too.

Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin’s long outlet pass intended for Dylan Strome was too far ahead of him and went down the rink for an icing with 2:56 remaining. Trailing 6-3 but feeling like they’re never out of a game with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on their side, the Oilers pulled Pickard for an extra attacker to make it a 6-on-5 with the face-off coming in Washington’s end.

Ovechkin, who was on the ice for the icing and had to stay on for the face-off, was among those surprised that Edmonton decided to pull Pickard down by three goals.

“Yeah, I was,” Ovechkin said. “Kind of.”

The sellout crowd of 18,753 immediately began to cheer, though, when Pickard skated to Edmonton’s bench, realizing this would provide Ovechkin with an opportunity to move closer to history. The fans then started chanting “Ovi! Ovi!’ while the Capitals defended in their zone.

Draisaitl fed Ty Emberson for a one-timer from the point, but Emberson’s stick snapped in half and the puck dribbled directly to Ovechkin in the high slot. Ovechkin calmly settled it with his stick blade and slid it down the ice 139 feet into the empty net, setting off a cascade of hats from the stands.

“Got lucky, broken stick,” Ovechkin said. “But I have plenty of time to see what happens out there.”

It appears inevitable that Ovechkin will break Gretzky’s record eventually, but getting fortunate breaks like what happened to Emberson’s stick is helping his cause to do it this season.

Incredibly, at 39 years old, he has 29 goals in 41 games this season despite missing almost six weeks with a broken leg.

He needs 13 more in the Capitals’ final 25 games to get to 895 this season.

Is that doable?

"Game by game,” Ovechkin said, repeating what he’s often said about his approach to the record. “Yeah, today I have pretty good chances to score more, but I'll take three.”

Carbery estimated that Ovechkin, “could’ve had six tonight, like realistically” with the chances he had. Ovechkin finished the game with nine shots on goal, several of them Grade-A scoring chances.

After his first goal went in, you could tell he sensed more were coming.

“Whenever he gets a goal or two, I've never seen a guy so hungry,” Capitals forward Tom Wilson said. “Some guys score and they (think), 'OK, I had a good night.' He comes back to the bench (and) he's asking if he can go out again like right away. It's pretty fun, and it's been an amazing journey watching him do what he can do.”

The lengthy list of Ovechkin’s achievements Sunday included:

*Tying Phil Esposito (32) for the fifth-most hat tricks in NHL history, behind Gretzky (50), Mario Lemieux (40), Mike Bossy (39) and Brett Hull (33).

*Tying Jaromir Jagr’s NHL record with the 135th game-winning goal of his career.

*Scoring the 167th empty-net goal of his career, adding to his NHL-record total.

*Scoring against his 181st different goalie, adding to his NHL-record total.

*Becoming the first player in NHL history to score at least 200 goals in three different decades, with 245 in the 2000s, 437 in the 2010s, and 200 in the 2020s.

*Scoring his first hat trick against the Oilers, giving him at least one against 20 different franchises, tying Hull for the most in NHL history.

Ovechkin needs one more goal for his 19th season with at least 30, increasing his NHL-record total.

“You can't deny how special this is,” Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren said. “Whatever he's at, [882] goals, it's just insane, honestly.”

After each of his goals Sunday, Ovechkin skated over to where his wife Nastya and sons Sergei and Ilya were sitting to celebrate by fist bumping or high-fiving Sergei through the glass.

"It's great,” Ovechkin said. “Him and Ilya loves hockey, play it at home all the time. He enjoys it, and I'm pretty sure they're very happy right now."

It seemed fitting that Ovechkin got a hat trick against the Oilers -- the team with which Gretzky scored his first 583 goals -- during his march toward Gretzky’s record. Scoring at a rate of 0.71 goals per game this season (the highest rate of his career), Ovechkin is on pace to get the record-breaking goal at home against the Chicago Blackhawks on April 4.

Ovechkin’s career pace of 0.60 goals per game (882 goals in 1,467 games) puts him on track to break the record at the Columbus Blue Jackets on April 12.

“You can’t write this stuff, Carbery said. “You cannot write a story and a book of what he’s doing right now at 39. The goals he’s scoring … massive goals against the Stanley Cup finalists from last year, as good a team as there in is in the League. It’s just incredible.”