Ovechkin scores hat trick, sparks Capitals past Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS -- Alex Ovechkin scored a hat trick for the Washington Capitals in a 5-2 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.

It was the 31st NHL hat trick for Ovechkin, who has 866 career goals. He is 29 away from surpassing Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 894 goals.

"It was a pretty cool atmosphere like always,” Ovechkin said. "We played hard. Right from the start everybody did their job blocking shots."

Logan Thompson made 40 saves in his return to Las Vegas, and Jakob Chychrun and Jakub Vrana also scored for the Capitals (12-4-1), who won their second in a row after alternating wins and losses over their previous seven games.

Thompson was traded to the Capitals by the Golden Knights on June 29 for a third-round pick in the 2024 and 2025 NHL Draft.

“You forget how many good memories you have here and how much I love it here,” Thompson said. “The city meant a lot to me, and I love playing in front of the fans. … But credit to the guys that were here with me and here before or that are no longer here. They really helped me, and I really needed a fresh start. But I couldn't be [happier] to spend my time as a Golden Knight.”

Brett Howden and Keegan Kolesar scored for the Golden Knights (11-5-2), who had won two in a row and four of six. Ilya Samsonov made 20 saves.

“We weren't on our toes early. We just weren't playing in the first period,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said “We weren't executing (to) the best of our abilities. At the end of the first period, they didn’t have very much either. … We deserve better if we get a little puck luck and then get back to playing winning hockey, but that didn't happen.”

Ovechkin gave Washington a 1-0 lead at 5:59 of the first period, scoring a power-play goal on a shot from the left circle that glanced off Alex Pietrangelo’s stick.

Chychrun extended it to 2-0 at 12:26 when he roofed a shot past Samsonov from the high slot.

“We knew it was going to be a challenge, and I give our guys a ton of credit,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “We sort of took a day away from the rink and really wanted to focus on our physical and mental prep because we knew how difficult it was to have success in this building.”

Howden cut it to 2-1 at 19:52, tapping in a shot that bounced off the end boards.

“I was just trying to find myself getting to the net more and having a bit more of a shooting mentality,” Howden said. “And I've been lucky enough that pucks have been kind of finding me at the start so far.”

Vrana scored blocker side on Samsonov to push it to 3-1 at 2:49 of the second period.

Kolesar made it 3-2 at 7:24 off a pass from Tomas Hertl during a delayed penalty.

Ovechkin made it 4-2 at 17:38, scoring his second goal of the game on a 2-on-1 rush. He then completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal at 19:23 for the 5-2 final.

NOTES: With his hat trick, Ovechkin moved within one of Phil Esposito (32) for the fifth most in NHL history. … Ovechkin recorded the 16th hat trick of his career on the road. The only players with as many in NHL history are Gretzky (19), Mario Lemieux (19), and Marcel Dionne (17). … Vegas forward Jack Eichel had an assist to extend his point streak to six games (two goals, 10 assists).