Alex Ovechkin joined the exclusive club with 1 other player after his epic hat trick
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin occupied the history books with a performance that was shocking on Thursday night in an 8-4 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre. The 40-year-old superstar recorded his 33rd career hat trick, tying Brett Hull for fourth in league history, and added an assist, giving him four points on the night.
Ovechkin opened the scoring just one minute into the first period, converting a power-play opportunity from a faceoff to mark his 905th NHL goal. Then Etienne Frank scored two minutes into the second period to give Washington a 2-1 lead. The Russian legend completed his hat trick with two late goals in the third period, a rush goal with 4:57 left and an empty netter from his own zone at 2:04 to push his career tally to 907.
The milestone also moved Ovechkin past Joe Sakic for 10th on the NHL’s all-time list, with 1,643 points. He now sits just 65 points behind Sidney Crosby for ninth all-time. The hat trick makes Ovechkin just the sixth player in NHL history to score a hat trick after turning 40, joining Hall of Famers Jaromir Jagr, Gordie Howe (three times), Johnny Bucik (twice), Teemo Selano and Nicklas Lidstrom. At 40 years and 64 days, he is the ninth oldest player to achieve this feat.
Ovechkin has scored in four straight games and in five of his last six, with seven goals and three assists in that span. Having scored six goals in his last four games, he became only the second player over 40 years of age to perform such a featwhich Selan first accomplished in March 2011, according to ESPN Insights.
Furthermore, his 13th goal scored in the first minute tied him with Mark Messier for second in NHL history, trailing Crosby’s 15.
The win for the Capitals was their third in a row, improving their record to 11-8-2. With 10 wins in regulation, Washington is tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins for the most in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, Montreal has lost five straight and seven of its last eight games.
2025-11-21 08:20:00
