Two hat tricks in two games! Alexander Ovechkin joined, then surpassed Quebecer Mario Lemieux by scoring his 690th, 691st and 692nd goals in his career on Saturday afternoon at Uniondale.
To crown Ovechkin’s feat, the Washington Capitals completed a spectacular comeback to finally win 6 to 4 against the New York Islanders.
The home side actually led 4-1 after the first two periods, when Ovechkin and his teammates scored five unanswered goals.
“Ovi” had already passed Lemieux when he completed his hat trick in an empty net to join Steve Yzerman ninth in the history of the National Hockey League.
The Russian striker first foiled New York Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov in the middle of the first period, then hit the target again in the third period.
An extraordinary week
To say the least, Ovechkin had a successful week. On Thursday, with another hat against the New Jersey Devils, he had reached the plateau of 30 goals for the 15th consecutive season.
After Lemieux and Yzerman, the Capitals star could soon overtake legendary Mark Messier, eighth with 694 goals. Most optimists also believe that 34-year-old Ovechkin could possibly threaten Wayne Gretzky’s final record (894).
For the moment, as far as Lemieux is concerned, it is after all interesting to note that “Ovi” needed more games than “Le Magnifique” to beat his total goals (1133 compared to 915).
Here are the top 10 goal scorers in NHL history:
1 – Wayne Gretzky 894
2 – Gordie Howe 801
3 – Jaromir Jagr 766
4 – Brett Hull 741
5 – Marcel Dionne 731
6 – Phil Esposito 717
7 – Mike Gartner 708
8 – Mark Messier 694
9 – Alexander Ovechkin 692
– Steve Yzerman 692
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