November 18 vs. Utah Hockey Club at Delta Center
Time: 9:00 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, Caps Radio 24/7
Washington Capitals (12-4-1)
Utah Hockey Club (7-7-3)
Making their first-ever trip to the state of Utah on Monday, the Caps are finishing up a three-game road trip and a set of back-to-back games when they battle the Utah Hockey Club at Salt Lake City’s Delta Center. The UHC is the team formerly known as the Arizona Coyotes; after decades of turmoil and distress in the desert, the franchise relocated to Utah over the summer, leaving the history and logo of the Coyotes – who were originally the first NHL iteration of the Winnipeg Jets – in Arizona for a potential rebirth somewhere down the line.
As they take the ice in Utah for the first time, the Caps are seeking a sweep of the three-game trip. They played a stifling defensive game in a 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Friday in the trip opener, then downed the Golden Knights in Vegas by the same count on Sunday. Logan Thompson made 40 saves – including all 25 shots he faced in the third period – in the win over his former Vegas club, and Alex Ovechkin singlehandedly supplied the difference in the game with the 31st hat trick of his NHL career.
Thompson is now 8-0-1 on the season and Ovechkin is now just 29 goals shy of passing Wayne Gretzky (894) for the top spot on the NHL’s all-time goals ledger.
Washington outscored Vegas by a 2-1 count in each of the game’s first two periods, and it even held a slight edge in face-offs through the game’s first 40 minutes, winning 23 of 43 draws for a 53 percent success rate. But in the third, Vegas dominated in terms of possession and controlling the play, and it did so largely by controlling the dot. The Golden Knights won 21 of 28 (75 percent) of the game's third-period draws, which led to them teeing up 42 shot attempts in the final 20 minutes.
Thompson had the answer for all of them.
“That’s a talented group over there, and you expect a push,” says Thompson. “Especially playing for them for so long, you knew they were going to come out hard. Luckily, the puck was hitting me tonight. It very easily could have gone the other way. And Ovi stops a goal line chance there in the second; that probably could have changed the game as well.”
Thompson refers to Ovechkin’s backcheck on Vegas forward Ivan Barbashev, who was poised to bang home what would have been the tying goal, just ahead of the midpoint of the third period. But Ovechkin blunted the shot from behind, and got the puck out of harm’s way, preserving the Caps’ precarious one-goal lead.
“That was a huge defensive play,” says Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery. “I thought there was a bunch of great defensive plays, blocks. [Tom] Wilson’s block at the end, at 5-on-6 – unbelievable. And it essentially enables [Ovechkin] to get the empty-netter [to complete the hat trick] at the end, because he comes off and changes for him.”
Ovechkin scored once in each period, and as is typical of his offensive outbursts these days, there are a number of statistical ramifications to pore over on the morning after. To wit:
- Ovechkin is the first player in League history aged 39 or older to score 11 goals in a 10-game span
- Ovechkin has recorded a hat trick against 19 different NHL franchises, tied with Mario Lemieux for second all-time; he trails only Brett Hull (20)
- Ovechkin becomes the first player in NHL history aged 39 or older to lead the League in goals (outright or tied, minimum 10 goals)
- Ovechkin is the fourth player in NHL history with at least 16 road hat tricks; Gretzky and Lemieux each had 19 and Marcel Dionne had 17
- Sunday’s game was the eighth time The Great Eight has scored in each of the game’s three periods; he fittingly becomes the eighth player in the expansion era (since 1967-68) to achieve the feat at least eight times
- Ovechkin’s first goal of the game was his first against former Caps teammate Ilya Samsonov, making Samsonov his 177th unique goaltending victim of his 866 career lamplighters. Ovechkin is tied with Patrick Marleau (177) for second all-time; only Jaromir Jagr (178) scored against more goalies
- Dylan Strome assisted on Ovechkin’s first goal, the 11th consecutive Ovechkin goal on which Strome collected a helper. That matches Nicklas Backstrom’s team mark for most consecutive assists on Ovechkin goals; Backstrom assisted on 11 straight in 2011
With 13 goals in just 17 games at the outset of the 2024-25 season, Ovechkin is on pace to pass Gretzky in 38 games, which would be a Feb. 9 home game against the Utah Hockey Club.
Sunday’s victory in Vegas was Washington’s third consecutive road triumph, and the Caps improved to 5-2-0 on the road this season.
Utah roared out to a 4-1-1 start this season, although three of those four early victories were achieved in overtime. The UHC has struggled some since then, going 3-6-2 in its last 11 contests. They are 4-3-1 in their new Delta Center home this season.
For Utah, Monday’s game is the rubber match of a three-game homestand. Utah defeated Carolina 4-1 in the opener this past Wednesday but fell to Vegas on Friday as the Golden Knights rallied for their League-leading seventh comeback victory of the campaign.
Following Monday’s game, Utah embarks on a four-game journey out east, visiting Boston, Pittsburgh, Toronto and Montreal, respectively.
