Thursday night, 32-year-old Alex Ovechkin reminded us again just how great of a player he remains. With three snaps of his wrist, Ovechkin scored his 18th career hat trick. Within that 6:33 span, Ovechkin tied the game twice and forced the game to overtime.
Some of the stats surrounding Ovechkin’s accomplishment are mind-blowing. For instance, according to @ESPNStatsInfo, Ovechkin now has 5 more hattys than any other player since making his debut in 2005-06.
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The next two closest players are Eric Staal (13) and Evgeni Malkin (11).
18th career hat trick for Alex Ovechkin, 5 more than any other player since his debut season in 2005-06. pic.twitter.com/TrWV3ILyZ3
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 6, 2017
Check out these other stats.
#Caps Alex Ovechkin scored 3 goals in a span of 6 minutes, 33 seconds.
It was the fastest Hat Trick of his NHL career.
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) October 6, 2017
Alex Ovechkin is the second player in @Capitals history to score a hat trick in a season-opening game (Mikhail Grabovski on Oct. 1, 2013). pic.twitter.com/hZkLT8eDsa
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) October 6, 2017
With his 19th career Hat Trick. #Caps Alex Ovechkin ties Mike Modano for 24th place on NHL's career goals list with 561
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) October 6, 2017
This marks the third time in his career Alex Ovechkin has opened the season with a multi-goal game (2005, 2009).
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) October 6, 2017
What a legend.
