Alex Ovechkin continued his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s goal-scoring record with his 32nd career hat trick as the Washington Capitals cruised to a 7-3 victory over the visiting Edmonton Oilers on Sunday afternoon.
Ovechkin netted the 880th, 881st and 882nd goals of his career to close within 13 of passing Gretzky (894) for most in NHL history. It was the 20-year veteran’s 178th multi-goal game.
Dylan Strome had a goal and two assists for Washington, which also got a goal and an assist from both Tom Wilson and Jakob Chychrun. Aliaksei Protas had three assists and Connor McMichael also scored to help the Capitals leapfrog the Winnipeg Jets for the most points in the league (84).
John Carlson added two assists and Charlie Lindgren made 22 saves as Washington extended its point streak to eight (5-0-3). Leon Draisaitl scored his league-leading 42nd goal, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and an assist and Jeff Skinner also scored for Edmonton, which dropped its third straight game. Calvin Pickard finished with 27 saves.
Red Wings 5, Ducks 4 (OT)
Patrick Kane’s second goal of the game came with one minute remaining in overtime and host Detroit survived blowing a three-goal lead to beat Anaheim.
Marco Kasper, Alex DeBrincat and Kane scored in the first 5:06 of the game for Detroit, J.T. Compher added a goal later, and Alex Lyon stopped 24 shots. Kane’s game-winner came on a breakaway as Detroit improved to 8-1-1 over its last 10 games.
On Sunday, Anaheim scored twice in the final 2:16 after it pulled goaltender Lukas Dostal for an extra skater. Cutter Gauthier scored two goals, including the tying goal with 53 seconds left. Ryan Strome and Olen Zellweger also scored for the Ducks, while Dostal made 31 saves.
Stars 4, Islanders 3
Jason Robertson completed a hat trick in a nine-minute span of the second period for surging Dallas, which knocked off New York in Elmont, N.Y.
The fourth regular-season hat trick of Robertson’s career was his first since Dec. 1, 2022. Sam Steel scored in the first period and goalie Jake Oettinger made 34 saves for the Stars, who completed a back-to-back road sweep. Dallas, which beat the New Jersey Devils 4-2 on Saturday night, has won eight of its last 10 (8-1-1).
Pierre Engvall, Kyle Palmieri and Anthony Duclair and goalie Ilya Sorokin recorded 25 saves for the Islanders, who have lost three straight (0-3-0). New York is five points out of a wild-card spot with a handful of teams between it and the final berth.
Rangers 5, Penguins 3
Adam Fox’s goal with 8:34 remaining put New York ahead in Pittsburgh for good en route to a comeback victory.
Fox added an assist to go with his game-winner, J.T. Miller scored twice and Reilly Smith assisted on two goals. Jimmy Vesey also posted his 100th goal and added an assist as New York won for the fourth time in six games. Igor Shesterkin made 36 saves.
Ryan Shea scored twice, and Evgeni Malkin added a goal and an assist for the Penguins. Joel Blomqvist made 11 saves for Pittsburgh, which lost a third straight.
Lightning 4, Kraken 1
Brandon Hagel netted a short-handed goal, his third tally against Seattle this season, and had an assist to help host Tampa Bay post its season-high fifth straight win.
Nikita Kucherov and Luke Glendening scored 1:43 apart in the third period. Nick Paul potted an empty-netter as the Lightning improved to 19-7-2 on home ice and 7-0-1 all-time against the Kraken. In his 26th win, Vasilevskiy made 36 saves and had his bid for career shutout No. 38 spoiled by Shane Wright at 15:24 of the third.
Tampa Bay’s performance spoiled the NHL debut of 28-year-old Seattle goalie Ales Stezka. A 2015 fourth-round pick of the Minnesota Wild, the Czech Republic native stopped 19 of 22 shots as Seattle fell to 0-9-0 in the second game of a back-to-back set.
Devils 5, Predators 0
Nico Daws made 29 saves for his first career shutout, while Dougie Hamilton scored in the second period and added an assist as New Jersey opened a five-game road trip with a rout over Nashville.
Ondrej Palat scored in the first period for his 500th career point as the Devils improved to 8-10-3 in their past 21 games since Dec. 27. Hamilton added the secondary assist on Palat’s goal to register his 500th career point on the same play. Seamus Casey scored 5:14 after Hamilton tallied, Stefan Noesen added a power-play goal in the third and Tomas Tatar scored midway through the third as the Devils scored five goals for the 15th time this season.
Rookie Fedor Svechkov had a goal disallowed due to an offsides call as the Predators fell to 2-7-0 in their past nine since five straight Jan. 14-23 and were blanked for the eighth time. Backup goalie Justus Annunen allowed five goals on 36 shots.
Blues 3, Avalanche 1
In his first start since helping Canada win the 4 Nations Face-Off title over the United States on Thursday, Jordan Binnington made 28 saves as St. Louis defeated visiting Colorado.
Brayden Schenn, Colton Parayko and Dylan Holloway scored for the Blues, who had just two victories in their previous nine games. Jordan Kyrou and Justin Faulk each earned two assists for St. Louis.
Devon Toews scored for the Avalanche and Mackenzie Blackwood made 22 saves. Makar assisted on Toews’ goal for his 400th NHL point in his 374th game. Bobby Orr and Paul Coffey are the only defensemen to reach that career milestone quicker.
Flames 3, Sharks 2
Joel Hanley broke a third-period tie with his first goal of the season and Nazem Kadri collected one goal and one assist to lead host Calgary to a victory over San Jose.
Kevin Rooney also scored for the Flames, who are one point outside of a Western Conference wild-card spot. Goaltender Dustin Wolf made 27 saves.
Tyler Toffoli posted one goal and one assist and Macklin Celebrini tallied for the slumping Sharks, who are winless in five games (0-4-1) and have only one victory in their last 12 outings (1-10-1). Goalie Alexandar Georgiev stopped 33 shots.
Maple Leafs 5, Blackhawks 2
Nicholas Robertson scored two goals and Jake McCabe and Chris Tanev each had a goal and an assist to lift visiting Toronto to a victory against Chicago.
Toronto overtook Florida atop the Atlantic Division by one point in winning the opener of a four-game road trip. Robertson’s second career multi-goal game backed a 25-save effort from goaltender Joseph Woll.
Chicago opened the scoring in the closing seconds of the first period on a goal by Teuvo Teravainen but was unable to sustain the momentum en route to its sixth loss in the past seven games. Tyler Bertuzzi assisted on both goals for the Blackhawks.
Utah Hockey Club 2, Canucks 1
Dylan Guenther’s power-play goal with 5:53 left broke a tie and gave Utah a win over Vancouver in Salt Lake City.
Logan Cooley also scored for Utah, Clayton Keller assisted on both goals, and Karel Vejmelka stopped 14 of 15 shots. Jake DeBrusk got the only goal for the Canucks, who were held to one for the second consecutive game.
Arturs Silovs made 30 saves in his first NHL appearance since Nov. 27. Silovs was recalled from the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League on Saturday. Both teams also played on Saturday. Vancouver lost 3-1 on the road to the Vegas Golden Knights, and Utah fell 5-3 to the host Los Angeles Kings.
–Field Level Media
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