"Hate to see it but respect","Might win the rocket at 39": Fans react as Alex Ovechkin's hat trick inches him closer to Gretzky's record

Alex Ovechkin, the Washington Capitals' captain, scored his 31st career hat trick on Sunday. This led his team to a 5-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights. It was the Capitals’ first regular-season win at T-Mobile Arena.

Fans had mixed reactions to it. Some praised Ovechkin’s skill, while others thought the play was just luck.

"Crazy. I hate to see it, but… respect," another fan commented.

"Empty net merchant," a fan commented.

“Mf might win the Rocket at age 39 LMAO," one fan said.

Here are some reactions from fans on X, who praised Ovechkin.

"The way he shrugged theodore off lol dudes strong," one X user said.

"Great teams help great players they got a great team and a motivated ovechkin," a fan said.

"Goat behavior," a fan tweeted.

Alex Ovechkin, at the age of 39, is only 28 goals away from Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record of 894. Ovechkin was 31 goals away prior to this hat trick.

Ovechkin's first goal came in the opening period on a power play. His pass deflected off Alex Pietrangelo and into the net. This was Ovechkin’s 315th career power-play goal, the most in NHL history. Dylan Strome assisted on the goal.

Later in the second period, Ovechkin scored again during a two-on-one rush with Matt Roy. He fired the puck past Ilya Samsonov, who could not stop the shot despite signaling for defensive support. This goal ended Strome’s assist streak and made Samsonov the 177th goaltender Ovechkin has scored against.

Alex Ovechkin completed his hat trick in the third period with help from Aliaksei Protas. Ovechkin also helped defensively by lifting Ivan Barbashev’s stick to stop a Vegas scoring chance. Ovechkin, with 176 multi-goal games, is getting closer to Gretzky’s record of 189.

Washington Capitals secured 12th win of the season

The Washington Capitals are off to a good start this season. They have a record of 12-4-1 and are placed 3rd in the Metropolitan Division. Their recent win over the Vegas Golden Knights was their 12th of the season out of 17 games.

Ovechkin started the scoring at 5:59 of the first period on a power play. Jakob Chychrun made it 2-0 at 12:26 with a high shot from the slot. Brett Howden scored for Vegas at 19:52, tapping in a rebound off the boards to make it 2-1.

In the second period, Jakub Vrana extended the Capitals’ lead to 3-1 at 2:49 with a blocker-side goal. Keegan Kolesar scored for Vegas at 7:24, closing the gap to 3-2 with an extra attacker.

Alex Ovechkin scored again at 17:38 on a 2-on-1 play. His third goal finalized the score 5-2 for the win.