Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin took a huge leap towards overtaking Wayne Gretzky’s goalscoring record on Sunday. Ovechkin stole the show with a hat-trick against the Edmonton Oilers, moving within 12 goals of Gretzky.
Ovechkin’s sons were at rinkside to see him play. The Capitals posted a special reel highlighting his performance and showed him bumping fists with his kids on the glass after scoring.
“When you ask your dad for 3 goals and he delivers,” the Capitals captioned.
One of Ovechkin’s sons held up three fingers in the video. The clip then cuts to a highlight montage of his three goals on the night.
Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren, who made 22 saves in the game, lauded Ovechkin’s skill.
“I’m telling you, he (Ovechkin) amazes me night in and night out,” Lindgren said after the game, via NHL.com. “He truly is the best. I’m so thankful that he’s a Washington Capital and to share a locker room with him, it’s been incredible.”
Washington players Dylan Strome, Tom Wilson and Jakob Chychrun also scored. The Capitals have gone 16 home games without a regular time defeat, cementing their place at the top of their division.
“I thought (that was) as good as we’ve played all season from start to finish,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said,ivia NHL.com. “We were so dialed in from puck drop to the end of that game -- the bench, not only what guys were vocalizing on the bench, but what they were going and doing every shift after shift after shift against as good a team as there is in the League on a back-to-back.”
For the Oilers, Leon Draisaitl scored a goal to extend his points streak to eight games. Ryan-Nugent Hopkins and Jeff Skinner also recorded goals against the Capitals.
Alex Ovechkin opens up on whether he will overhaul Wayne Gretzky this season
Alex Ovechkin took his all-time NHL goals tally to 882 at Capital One Arena on Sunday. He is 13 goals shy of passing Wayne Gretzky (894) for the record.
“Game by game,” Ovechkin said, via NHL.com. “Today I had pretty good chances to score more, but I'll take three.”
Ovechkin took nine shots on goal against the Oilers on Sunday. Despite missing 18 games due to a knee injury, he has scored 29 goals this season.
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