Feb. 24 (UPI) — Alex Ovechkin delivered his 32nd career hat trick to climb just 13 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL scoring record during a dominant Washington Capitals win over the Edmonton Oilers.
Ovechkin lit the lamp twice in the second period and once more in the final frame of the 7-3 victory Sunday in Washington.
The 39-year-old Russian must score more than a dozen goals over the final 25 games to become the greatest score in NHL history this season.
“I had pretty good chances to score more, but I’ll take three,” Ovechkin told reporters.
Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl drew first blood off a power play for the Oilers 1:42 into Sunday’s game. The Oilers answered with five consecutive scores to snatch momentum and never looked back.
Tom Wilson scored the first goal of that surge with 2:45 remaining in the first period. He then teamed up with fellow forward Dylan Strome to assist defenseman Jakob Chychrun on a go-ahead score 44 seconds before the period ended.
Ovechkin beat Oilers goalie Calvin Pickard for his first score 8:53 into the second. He scored again off a power play about 10 minutes later. Oilers forward Connor McMichael continued the offensive explosion with another goal with 15 seconds remaining in the period.
Forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins put the Oilers on the board with a second goal 6:35 into the third period. Strome made the score 6-2 about four minutes later. Forward Jeff Skinner scored the Oilers’ final goal with 4:45 remaining in regulation.
Ovechkin then completed his hat trick by slipping a shot into an empty net with 2:38 remaining.
Ovechkin reached his current total of 882 scores in 1,467 games. Gretzky scored 894 times in 1,484 appearances. “The Great One” scored in 60.2% of his career appearances, compared to Ovechkin’s 60.1% clip.
Gretzky also ranks first in career assists and points on the NHL’s all-time list, with 1,963 and 2,857, respectively. Ovechkin 714 assists and 1,596 points rank 56th and 11th, respectively.
Gretzky fired the eighth-most shots (5,088) in NHL history, while Ovechkin already leads in that category, with 6,781.
At his current scoring rate this season, Ovechkin would likely reach Gretzky’s total in 17 or 18 games, which would be in early April.
The Capitals (38-11-8) lead the NHL in points and own the second-most wins, trailing only the Winnipeg Jets (40-14-3). They will host the Calgary Flames (27-21-8) at 7 p.m. EST Tuesday in Washington.
