By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin fired a perfect wrist shot past Calvin Pickard for his first goal of the game, scored from his office on the power play for his second and sailed a shot into an empty net from his own zone to complete the hat trick.
“I have pretty good chances to score more,” Ovechkin said, “but I’ll take three.”
Scoring three goals in the Washington Capitals’ 7-3 rout of the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday put Ovechkin 13 away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career record of 894 that long seemed unapproachable. Even after missing 16 games earlier this season because of a broken leg, the 39-year-old is on pace to pass Gretzky this spring.
“He amazes me night in, night out,” Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren said. “He truly is the best.”
Linemate Dylan Strome, who has assisted on 16 of Ovechkin’s 29 goals this season, acknowledged “it’s going to be tough still” to set the record in March or April. Asked if scoring 13 in Washington’s final 25 games was doable, Ovechkin said he’s taking it “game by game.”
If there are more games like the one against the Oilers, it’s a matter of when, not if, Ovechkin reaches 895 and beyond.
“I’ve never seen a guy so hungry,” longtime teammate Tom Wilson said. “Some guys score and they (think), ‘OK, I had a good night.’ He comes back to the bench, 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.”
Watching from the other side, grizzled veteran Corey Perry lamented the Oilers letting Ovechkin get open enough to do damage.
“You give the best goal scorer in the world that kind of time, he’s going to put it in the back of the net,” Perry said.
After scoring 10 minutes apart in the second period, Ovechkin almost beat Pickard a third time in the third but was denied. He got eight shots on Edmonton’s goaltender and had four more attempts.
It took an empty net for the hats to fly from the juiced-up crowd of 18,573 fans who chanted “Ovi! Ovi!” throughout. Ovechkin conceded he was a little surprised Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch pulled Pickard for an extra attacker while trailing by three, but it turned out to be good for the Capitals when Ovechkin scored from 139 feet out.
“They got an elite team with elite offensive players and 17,000 people in the stands were hoping they pull the goalie,” Strome said. “We’ll take it. Obviously he’ll take it, and it was a lucky, fortunate bounce. But I guess when you have 882 goals, you get those bounces.”
Ovechkin tied Jaromir Jagr’s record with 135 game-winning goals, and the 32nd hat trick of his 20-year NHL career moved him into a tie for fifth on that list with Hall of Famer Phil Esposito. His next will be No. 30, reaching that mark for an 18th season.
“You cannot write a story and a book of what he’s doing right now at 39,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “The goals he’s scoring, he could’ve had six.”
Lindgren counts himself fortunate not to have to face Ovechkin, and playing with him the past two-plus seasons has kept him from being one of the 181 goaltenders the Russian superstar has scored on. He felt for Pickard getting beaten on shots that are incredibly difficult to stop and from the other end of the rink has an appreciation for Ovechkin lighting up the league and chasing history.
“It’s just insane, honestly,” Lindgren said. “He just scores in so many different ways. Best hockey player in the world.”
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