Alex Ovechkin produced his 34th career hat trick and the Washington Capitals rallied from a two-goal deficit to a 7-4 win against the Utah Mammoth on Thursday night in Salt Lake City.
Ovechkin has 29 goals this season, including two hat tricks, and an NHL-record 926 for his career.
Ivan Miroshnichenko tallied his first two goals of the season and Anthony Beauvillier and Rasmus Sandin each had a goal and an assist for the Capitals (36-28-9, 81 points), who trail the New York Islanders by six points for the second Eastern Conference wild card.
Washington goaltender Logan Thompson made 35 saves.
Dylan Guenther scored twice and Mikhail Sergachev and Clayton Keller each had three assists for the Mammoth (37-30-6, 80 points), who hold the first Western Conference wild-card spot. Vitek Vanecek allowed six goals on 23 shots before being lifted midway through the third period. Karel Vejmelka saved the lone shot he faced in relief.
Miroshnichenko gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 2:07 of the first period when blasted a one-timer past Vanecek from above the right circle on the rush.
Guenther tied the game at 13:04 of the first, scoring on a one-timer from the slot off a return pass from Keller below the goal line on a power play.
Guenther gave the Mammoth a 2-1 lead at 16:59 of the opening period. He took a pass in the right circle from Keller on the rush, cut in front of Thompson and slid the puck home.
Logan Cooley made it 3-1 with seven seconds left before the first intermission when he knocked in a loose puck in front during a power play.
Ovechkin pulled the Capitals within 3-2 at 5:01 of the second period, scoring from the low slot when he redirected a pass from Sandin past Vanecek. The Washington captain tied it 2-2 at 11:28 of the middle frame, scoring on a wrist shot through traffic from the center point.
Beauvillier gave the Capitals a 4-3 lead at 2:43 of the third period when he deflected home Cole Hutson’s shot on a power play.
Sandin made it 5-3 at 6:02. Beauvillier deked around Vanecek on the rush and passed back to Sandin, who scored into the vacated net from the point.
MacKenzie Weegar pulled the Mammoth within 5-4 when he scored through a screen from the point at 8:06, but Miroshnichenko increased the lead to 6-4 at 9:54 when his centering pass on the rush deflected in off Sergachev’s skate.
Ovechkin completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal at 19:54.
