The Washington Capitals completed a thunderous comeback over the New York Islanders, scoring five goals in the third period on way to a 6-4 victory. If you needed a breather after that one, I do not blame you. Wow.
The Caps out-shot the Isles 30 to 29 and out-attempted them at five-on-five 45 to 33.
- Look, the Caps overall were very uneven through forty minutes (especially in the second) so that’s gonna skew the overall stats. At the end of the day, all that matters is that ridiculous third period. Somebody, maybe Devon Toews, lit an absolute fire under them and they came out like world beaters. So impressive and fun to watch.
- Alex Ovechkin. The Great Eight now has eight goals in his last three games and his three tonight jumped him past Mario Lemieux (690) into tenth all time in NHL goal scoring (692) and tied him with Steve Yzerman for ninth all time. Next on the list is passing Yzerman and then Mark Messier at 694. Ovi is now also only two goals back from David Pastrnak (36) for the NHL lead this season.
- Ilya Samsonov was fantastic in his one period of relief after Braden Holtby gave up four goals on 22 shots in the first two frames. Sammy made seven saves and became the only goaltender in NHL history to win each of his first nine career road games in one season and one of just two goaltenders in NHL history to win each of his first eight career road games. This was also his tenth straight win overall this season.
Here's an incredible stat via @CJC_95: Alex Ovechkin has scored hat tricks in consecutive games for 3 consecutive seasons (age 32-34).
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) January 18, 2020
- John Carlson recorded another two assist game. Carlson’s 47 assists this season put him second in the NHL to only Connor McDavid at 49. He is now on pace to score 100 total points this season. That feat has only been accomplished by five defensemen in NHL history (Bobby Orr, Paul Coffey, Denis Potvin, Al MacInnis, Brian Leetch).
- Somehow quiet in all of this is Jakub Vrana scoring the game winner, his 22nd overall on the year. That puts young Jake on pace for 36 goals and 66 points.
- Ovi also has more hat tricks (26) than four entire TEAMS since he entered the league (2005-06). The Colorado Avalanche (24), Minnesota Wild (19), New Jersey Devils (19), and obviously the Vegas Golden Knights (4). Those 26 career hat tricks also tied him with Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard for eighth all time in NHL three goal performances. Only two other players in NHL history have scored hat tricks in consecutive games as many times as Ovi and they are Joe Malone (4) and Wayne Gretzky (3).
Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com and NaturalStatTrick.com.
