The Washington Capitals surged past the Los Angeles Kings to walk away with a 4-2 victory, resting on the shoulders of their leader, Alexander Ovechkin. Trailing by one goal late in the third, the 34-year old captain turned on the heat with three straight goals in four minutes and twenty-four seconds.
“In less than five minutes, he took over the game, ” Coach Todd Reirden said. “We win the game because of that.”
This was Ovechkin’s fourth hat trick of the season, putting him just two goals shy of a career 700. He is on track to do this in 1,140 career games, which would put this the second fastest in NHL history.
He has 16 goals in his past 10 games. When asked if he amazes himself, his response was classic Ovechkin.
“Not yet,” he said. I’m still playing. Right after the year, yeah, I’m pretty sure my family and my friends are going to talk about it, but now personally I don’t try to concentrate about it. I’m just going out there and doing my job.”
The Kings held strong in the beginning of the game, keeping control pretty much until the end. They held Washington to only 12 shots through the first 40 minutes.
Then Ovechkin came alive.
“Give him a couple more years, and he’ll be at 800,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “It’s that type of night where maybe you don’t see him a lot early and then bang, bang, bang – and it’s in the net and they’ve won.”
Looking ahead to the future, McLellan was hopeful in his team’s process.
“Our ability to close and finish out games hasn’t been very good,” he said. “And that’s the next step in our evolution.”
Capitals fans and those around the league may see Ovechkin reach 700 when they take on the Flyers on February 8 at 7:00 p.m. ET.
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