Alex Ovechkin achieved his 28th career NHL hat trick to propel the Washington Capitals to a 4-3 victory over the Florida Panthers Friday night in DC. The Great 8 got his 16th, 17th, and 18th goals of the season to make up the three-goal performance.
No goals were scored in the 1st period until just 28 seconds were left when Jonathan Huberdeau scored (7) unassisted to make it 1-0 Florida. The second period featured a quick counterstrike by Washington, though, courtesy of Tom Wilson's (8) shorthanded effort. Ovechkin added his 16th of the season on the power play at the 2:50 mark of period 2 to make it 2-1 Caps and scored his 2nd in a row for 17 on the year at the 3:46 mark to give Washington a 3-1 lead. The Panthers' Sam Reinhardt would respond a couple minutes later with his 4th of the season, cutting the Caps lead to a 3-2 margin.
4:02 into period 3, Ovechkin completed his hat trick and the ballcaps came raining down from the seats at the Capital One Arena to make it 4-2 Washington. About 1:30 later, Carter Verhaege logged his 7th of the year to get Florida back within 1, 4-3, where it would stay until the final buzzer.
The Caps outshot, outhit, and won more faceoffs than the Panthers, with 29-22, 21-13, and 33-30 ratios. Both squads tied on penalty minutes, logging 6 minutes each in the sin bin.
Florida squares off against Washington again for their next game on Tuesday Nov. 30 at 7 PM, this time back home in Sunrise. For Washington, they head south to Raleigh for an early-afternoon clash against the Carolina Hurricanes tomorrow, Nov. 28, at 1 PM.
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