TJ Oshie’s goal count this season has reached 18 as he tied the game early in the second period and scored 41 seconds into the third.

It was Oshie’s third multi-goal game of the season, but he could not tally his fifth career hat trick.

“I had my fair share of chances but it wasn’t meant to be,” Oshie said to Al Koken after the game.

Goal 1

On Oshie’s first tally, Dmitry Orlov made the play possible by carrying the puck into the offensive zone. The Caps got a couple of chances before the puck rebounded into the slot, where Oshie was waiting opportunistically.

“I think we started playing a little bit faster,” Oshie said of the Capitals turnaround in the second period where they scored three unanswered goals. “Quit hanging on to the puck so much. Kind of made it simple and it opened up some offense for us.”

Goal 2

Early in the third period, Oshie struck again after Nicklas Backstrom gained the blue line and skated around Dylan DeMelo. As the rest of the Senators defense sagged towards Backstrom, the Swedish center found Oshie chugging down the right wing for a one-timer.

Sing it, John Denver.

The Osh Babe had several compelling opportunities in the final minute as Todd Reirden gave both Oshie and Alex Ovechkin an opportunity to score the hat trick, but neither player could get another goal past Craig Anderson.

Oshie now has three goals in his last two games and seven in his last 12.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” Oshie said. “Obviously throwing me out there with Nick and O, they’re trying to get me the puck quite a bit. More importantly than the goals for me, it’s nice to see the team playing well and getting some wins at home.”

Oshie added that he’s been trying to skate more to get more opportunities.

“I’ve been trying to focus to get to the net a little more this year,” Oshie said. “A lot of goals earlier were coming from around the net. And lately, I don’t think I was skating well enough for a little while there to get myself in good positions so I’ve been focusing on that a little bit. A lot of them are great plays by my line-mates. Obviously, Nick’s passes are pretty amazing to give me an empty-netter there. A lot of credit to the lineys, Kuz and V. When the line’s playing well, the goals kind of come and they get distributed pretty evenly. It’s fun playing right now.”

Oshie is still a candidate for the NHL All Star Game’s “Last Man In” competition, just in case you want to deprive him of a restful beach vacation.

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Senators

Headline photo: NBC Sports Washington