Nov. 25: Ovechkin scores three goals for special hat trick

THIS DATE IN HISTORY: Nov. 25
2017:Alex Ovechkin's 20th NHL hat trick is special, in more ways than one.

Ovechkin meets one of his biggest fans, 13-year-old cancer patient Alex Luey, before the Washington Capitals play the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre. He promises that if he scores a goal, he'll score it for Luey.

Ovechkin is better than his word --
he scores three goals in Washington's 4-2 win
. Afterward, he brings Luey into the locker room and calls him the star of the night.
It's a special hat trick for Ovechkin as well. He becomes the 16th player in NHL history to have at least 20. In doing so, he also passes
Mike Bossy
(573) on the NHL's all-time goals list.

MORE MOMENTS
1951:Three weeks before his 46th birthday,
assistant trainer Moe Roberts of the visiting Chicago Blackhawks replaces injured goalie Harry Lumley
after two periods and does not allow a goal in a 5-2 home loss to the Detroit Red Wings. It's the first NHL game for Roberts since playing for the 1933-34 New York Americans. Roberts is still the oldest man in NHL history to play goal.
1954:
Terry Sawchuk gets his third straight shutout
, the 51st of his NHL career, in Detroit's 2-0 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Olympia Stadium. It follows 5-0 and 1-0 victories against Chicago in back-to-back games.

1981:
Wayne Gretzky
gets the
eighth hat trick of his NHL career
two months before turning 21 when he scores four times in the Edmonton Oilers' 11-4 victory against the Los Angeles Kings at Northlands Coliseum. Gretzky scores twice in the first period, completes the hat trick with a power-play goal early in the second and tacks on No. 4 at 1:30 of the third. For good measure, he also has an assist.
Gretzky goes on to set the NHL single-season record with 10 hat tricks, a mark he matches in 1983-84.

1983:
The largest crowd in NHL history
(to that point) jams Joe Louis Arena to watch the Red Wings defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2. The 21,019 fans see Detroit rookie Kelly Kisio lead the scoring with a goal and two assists.
1992: The
Red Wings reach double figures in consecutive games
for the first time in their history by defeating the St. Louis Blues 11-6 at Joe Louis Arena.
Dino Ciccarelli
leads the scoring with two goals and two assists. The game comes two nights after the
Red Wings defeat the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning 10-5
.
1997:Three years after helping the New York Rangers to their first Stanley Cup since 1940,
Mark Messier returns to Madison Square Garden
for the first time after signing with the Vancouver Canucks during the offseason. Messier cries on the bench during a video tribute, then scores a breakaway goal and is named the game's First Star in Vancouver's 4-2 victory.

2015: The Montreal Canadiens overwhelm the Rangers 5-1 at Madison Square Garden, but lose goalie
Carey Price for the remainder of the season
. Price, the Vezina Trophy winner in 2014-15, does not come out for the third period because of the recurrence of a lower-body injury and does not play again during the 2015-16 season.
2019:Patrick Marleau gets his 99th regular-season game-winning goal with the San Jose Sharks when he scores at 2:35 of overtime for a
4-3 victory against the Los Angeles Kings
. Marleau passes
Bobby Hull
(Chicago Blackhawks) for the third-most game-winners by a player with one team.