Ovechkin's hat trick powers Capitals
WASHINGTON -- Alex Ovechkin notched his 16th career hat trick, Evgeny Kuznetsov had a goal and an assist, and the Washington Capitals defeated the St. Louis Blues 4-3 on Wednesday night.
Ovechkin, who has five goals in his last four games and 12 overall, scored in each period for his first three-goal game of the season.
Kuznetsov made it 3-1 at 6:31 of the third period when he got behind a defenseman and one-timed a beautiful cross-ice pass from Dmitry Orlov past the sliding Carter Hutton.
Only 22 seconds later, Ovechkin completed his hat trick with a wrist shot from the left circle on a rush, and the game was delayed briefly as hats rained down on the ice.
Ovechkin also had a hat trick the last time the Capitals played the Blues on April 9 in St. Louis. He moved past Jaromir Jagr (15 hat tricks) for the lead among active players.
Braden Holtby made 18 saves for Washington (12-5-2) and Andre Burakovsky had two assists.
Alex Pietrangelo and Alex Tarasenko scored in the 1:15 to pull the Blues within 4-3.
Tarasenko also scored in the second period for St. Louis (11-7-3), which had won four straight. He has 13 points (including five goals) in his last 10 games.
Hutton made 21 saves for the Blues, who were playing the second of back-to-backs.
Washington had four power plays in the first period and cashed in on the last one. Ovechkin scored his 10th goal of the season when he took a pass from Kuznetsov, waited momentarily and then wristed a high shot past Hutton on the glove side with 2:32 remaining.
The Blues, despite 2:05 of power-play time, managed only two shots on Holtby in the first period.
Ovechkin made it 2-0 midway through the second. Moments after just missing with a one-timer from the left circle, Ovechkin got a feed in the same spot from defenseman John Carlson and this one-timer beat a sliding Hutton.
Tarasenko got one back 36 seconds later. After Holtby stopped him in front, Tarasenko got the rebound and fired over Holtby from a tough angle for his eighth goal of the season.
NOTES: Capitals F Lars Eller (upper-body injury) returned after missing one game. D Taylor Chorney was scratched. ... Washington C Nicklas Backstrom celebrated his 29th birthday. Since he entered the NHL in 2007-08, Backstrom ranks sixth in multi-point games (180). ... Blues C Paul Stastny (five goals) is already halfway to his 10-goal total from last season. ... After playing Tuesday night in Boston, the Blues arrived in Washington around 1 a.m. and cancelled their morning skate. ... D Petteri Lindbohm and RW Ty Rattie were the St. Louis scratches.
NOTES: Capitals F Lars Eller (upper-body injury) returned after missing one game. D Taylor Chorney was scratched. ... Washington C Nicklas Backstrom celebrated his 29th birthday. Since he entered the NHL in 2007-08, Backstrom ranks sixth in multi-point games (180). ... Blues C Paul Stastny (five goals) is already halfway to his 10-goal total from last season. ... After playing Tuesday night in Boston, the Blues arrived in Washington around 1 a.m. and cancelled their morning skate. ... D Petteri Lindbohm and RW Ty Rattie were the St. Louis scratches.