Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin reached the 50-goal mark for the second time in his three NHL seasons Monday, scoring a hat trick and adding two assists in Washington's 10-2 victory over the Boston Bruins.
Ovechkin reached the milestone in his team's 67th game of the season, the fastest since the Pittsburgh Penguins' Jaromir Jagr and Mario Lemieux (59th game) and the Buffalo Sabres' Alexander Mogilny (63rd game) in 1995-96.
In netting his 50th goal of the season in the same game in which he recorded a hat trick, Ovechkin joins Wayne Gretzky as the only NHL players to have accomplished the rare feat.
Ovechkin also moved into first place in the race for the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's scoring leader. The 22-year-old Moscow native's five-point night increased his season total to 90 (52 goals, 38 assists), moving past 21-year-old Russian compatriot Evgeni Malkin of the
Penguins (37-51--88). Both Ovechkin and Malkin have played in 67 games and have 15 remaining.
Ovechkin's prolific scoring has keyed the resurgent Capitals' dramatic turnaround under head coach Bruce Boudreau. The Capitals, who ranked 30th in the NHL with a 6-14-1 mark when Boudreau made his debut behind the bench at Philadelphia Nov. 23, have posted a 25-14-7 record since. Ovechkin has tallied 38 goals in that span, 10 more than his closest competitor (Malkin). Ovechkin has tallied the game-winning goal eight times under Boudreau and is tied for the League lead with Calgary's Jarome Iginla (nine). |
