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Alex Ovechkin scored first all-PPG hat trick despite Wild designing their penalty kill to stop him

“We were just unsuccessful,” Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter said to 1500 ESPN’s Judd Zulgad after their team’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Capitals. “We designed our PK to defend that.”

The that Suter is referring to is Caps superstar Alex Ovechkin who dogged the Wild for three power-play goals. Former Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau specifically tailored the team’s penalty kill to take away Ovechkin. Instead, the team left Ovechkin alone on Ovechkin Island, sipping on piña coladas.

The Russian tallied his 17th career hat trick, but it was Ovechkin’s first ever all-power-play goal hatty. But what went so wrong?

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By Ian Oland 6 years ago

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Ted Leonsis offers to replace hats tossed on ice for Alex Ovechkin’s hat trick

Tuesday night Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin scored his 17th career hat trick during the Caps’ 5-4 OT victory against the Minnesota Wild. With an abundance of Caps fans in attendance, a plethora of hats were tossed to the ice. Wednesday morning, the Capitals’ owner Ted Leonsis took to Twitter to make an announcement.

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By Rachel Cohen 6 years ago

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Tom Wilson bleeds his own blood after high-sticking Zach Parise

Alex Ovechkin notched his 17th career hat trick, TJ Oshie scored twice (including the game-winning goal), and Braden Holtby joined a great (and Evgeni Nabokov) in the history books. But it was Tom Wilson who made national headlines for pulling a Matt Bradley.

The notoriously and aggressively handsome enforcer went from a GQ model to looking like the star of a gory slasher film after fighting Wild forward Chris Stewart.

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By Ian Oland 6 years ago

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Caps stop the Wild from completing the comeback: numbers for the morning after

Tuesday night, the Capitals held on to beat the Minnesota Wild 5-4 in overtime to start a five-game road trip. The Caps just barely skirted by on this one, propped up almost entirely by special teams, Braden Holtby, and their top-line star power.

Alex Ovechkin had what was (surprisingly) his first ever three-PPG game and his 17th career hat trick. TJ Oshie continued to pressure the captain for the team lead in goals with two of his own (including the OT winner), and Nick Backstrom had yet another three-assist night.

Overall, this was a low-event game in terms of shot attempts. The two teams combined for only 60 shot attempts at five-on-five. The Caps alone produced 74 in their 2-1 win over Columbus. In the end, the Wild had the better of possession, with 38 five-on-five shot attempts to just 22 by the Caps.

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By Nathan Sick 6 years ago

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TJ Oshie’s clutch OTGWG gives Caps thrilling 5-4 overtime win

Since the Capitals went on their bye week, their once insurmountable lead in the standings has disappeared. But as the Metropolitan’s contenders have bottlenecked, the Capitals have found their groove again, winning five consecutive games.

Tuesday in Minnesota, TJ Oshie rescued the team from a potential late-game collapse, one-timing a puck past Devan Dubnyk in three-on-three overtime for the 5-4 win. The Caps now hold a three-point lead over Columbus and a five-point lead over Pittsburgh for the Metropolitan Division crown.

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By Ian Oland 6 years ago

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Alex Ovechkin scores hat trick against former bench boss Bruce Boudreau

For some reason, the Minnesota Wild decided to leave Alex Ovechkin wide open for most of the night. You know what happened next.

The Russian machine tallied his 17th career hat trick against former bench boss Bruce Boudreau. All three of Ovechkin’s goals were scored on the power play from his office. With a heavy contingent of Caps fans in attendance (including the Caps Road Crew), hats were actually thrown on the ice.

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By Ian Oland 6 years ago

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Oshie vs Ovi: Caps beat Wild (OT) 5-4

The Minnesota Wild and the Washington Capitals both have secured playoff spots. So, why was this such a chippy game? Who the hell knows, but it had all the drama we could ever dream.

The first period started off with some hard play followed by TJ Oshie’s 31st goal of the season. The period ended with only the Oshie goal on the board. 1-0 Caps.

Unfortunately, the lead didn’t last long when the Minnesota Wild’s Jason Pominville immediately answered to tie the game. A few minutes later, during a power play, Ovechkin scored a beauty to bring the Caps up 2-1. Ovechkin would tie Oshie at 31 goals for the season. The Oshie and Ovechkin goal competition is not only fun to watch, but also good for the team. Ovechkin would push ahead of Oshie and nail another goal to the back of Dubnyk’s net. A rebound goal from Martin Hanzal would bring the Wild back to life and end the period with the Caps on top at 3-2.

The third period got off to a sleepy start, until Alex Ovechkin scored another goal to seal a hat trick. Hats flew and the Caps Road Crew rejoiced, but the goal was quickly answered by a terrible puck bounce from the Wild to bring the score 4-3. With 26.6 seconds remaining, the Wild tied the game up with a goal (*cough* that was very offsides *cough*) and would lead the game to overtime.

Overtime happened and Oshie top-shelfed the heck out of it to end the game.

Caps beat Wild, 5-4 in overtime!

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By Elyse Bailey 6 years ago

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Tom Wilson and Chris Stewart had a scuffle and it got ugly

There were some pushes and shoves during the first period of the Tuesday night game against the Minnesota Wild. But, things escalated quickly between Tom Wilson and Chris Stewart when pushing and shoving led to some stitches and blood.

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By Elyse Bailey 6 years ago

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TJ Oshie scores his 31st goal of the season

TJ Oshie scored his 31st goal of the season against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday evening. The play came from an incredible amount of hustle from Alex Ovechkin to grab the puck, pass to Nick Backstrom, and set Oshie up for a perfect rebound.

Oshie not only gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead, but also continued to build his career high for goals in a single-season. It was originally 26.

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By Elyse Bailey 6 years ago

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Caps at Wild pregame: On the road again

The five-game road trip for the Washington Capitals begins tonight against the Minnesota Wild. This will be the longest continuous road trip for the Capitals since 2011. They will cover four times zones in five games in eight nights.

Both the Capitals and the Wild have secured a playoff spot, so the teams will be focused on keeping a healthy squad while also trying to secure top spots in their conferences.

Puck drop is at 8 PM on CSN.