*Photo from Raw Charge*
Gordie Howe, you might want to check your rear view mirror. Anthony Mantha had a goal and an assist, Alex Ovechkin racked up a hat trick, and the Washington Capitals cruised past the Chicago Blackhawks with a 7-3 victory on Tuesday night in Chicago.
The hat trick places Ovechkin in 6th place all time for hat tricks in the NHL, recording the 29th of his career. However, the more important feat is his climb up the goal scoring leaderboard. His 3 goal game gave him 800 on his career, the 3rd person in the NHL to do so. He needs just two goals to pass Gordie Howe for second on the all time goal scorer list, and is 95 away from passing Wayne Gretzky in first.
Washington head coach Peter Laviolette said of Ovechkin's 800 goals that "You know what? It was awesome. It was just awesome to be on the bench and be a part of it, be a part of history. You work with somebody every day and they reach such an incredible milestone, it's an unbelievable accomplishment."
Ovechkin scored his first goal of the game and 798th of his career just 24 seconds into the game to make it 1-0 Capitals. Ovechkin added a power play goal at the 8:14 mark of the first, doubling the lead to 2-0 with Sonny Milano and Conor Sheary assisting. Tyler Johnson later answered back for the Blackhawks, cutting the deficit to 2-1 after one period.
The first goal of the second period came from Trevor van Riemsdyk, giving the Capitals a 3-1 lead on his 3rd goal of the season. Jonathan Toews made the deficit a one goal margin again with his 9th goal of the season, this one a power play goal. Nic Dowd scored at the 17:18 mark of the second for the Capitals, the score now 4-2 after two periods.
6:34 into the 3rd period, Ovechkin scored goal number 800 to complete the hat trick, extending Washington's lead to 5-2. Mantha added a goal to make the lead 6-2 at the 8:59 mark of the 3rd. Max Domi cut the Chicago deficit to 6-3 before Dmitry Orlov scored with 36 seconds left on the clock, making it a 7-3 final.
Ovechkin said of the milestone that "It's a huge number. It's the best company you ever can imagine since you start playing hockey to be connected to Gordie. Eight hundred, I'm the third person who ever scored that many goals. So without my teammates, without the organization, the fans, my family, I would never get that number and I would never talk to you right now about those numbers."
It was Charlie Lindgren in goal for the Capitals, getting the win while turning away 26 of the 29 shots he was faced with. That total was good for a .897 save percentage, with Lindgren's record improving to 7-3-2 on the season.
On the other side, Petr Mrazek made his return from injury to get the start for the Blackhawks. It did not go well, with Mrazek on the hook for all 7 goals, posting a paltry .767 save percentage while making 23 saves. His record now stands at 2-6-1.
Chicago head coach Luke Richardson said that "Petr gave us a chance. He made a save, but then we over backchecked. I thought we over backchecked a little too much, kind of focusing on guys like Ovechkin and Kuznetsov. Their forwards are creative, but we gave up the back weakside a couple times tonight. It cost us the fourth and maybe even the third goal."
Both teams resume play with Thursday night home games. Lindgren is projected to start for the Capitals against the Dallas Stars, while Arvid Soderblom is in line to start for the Blackhawks when they face the Vegas Golden Knights.
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