Ovechkin moves into top 10 in points in Capitals win against Canadiens

MONTREAL -- Alex Ovechkin had four points, including his 33rd NHL hat trick, to move into the top 10 in points in NHL history, and the Washington Capitals defeated the Montreal Canadiens 8-4 at Bell Centre on Thursday.

The NHL’s all-time leading goal-scorer has 1,643 points (907 goals, 736 assists), passing Joe Sakic for 10th place on the NHL career scoring list. His 33rd hat trick tied him with Brett Hull for fourth in NHL history.

Ovechkin singled out linemate Dylan Strome’s contributions on a night where the Washington center had three assists while his wife gave birth to the couple’s third child during the game.

“It’s a huge game, a huge two points,” Ovechkin said. “Since the first shift I think ‘Stromer’ was feeling it. Obviously it’s a huge day for him and his family. It’s pretty cool.”

Ovechkin scored two seconds into a power play at 1:00 of the first period to extend his goal streak to four games, had an assist, and scored goals 1:53 apart late in the third.

“After everything he’s done we’re still amazed at what he can do, and I’m sure he’s not close to slowing down,” said Capitals forward Ethen Frank, who had his first four-point game in the NHL.

Frank had two goals and two assists, and Sonny Milano scored twice for Washington (11-8-0), which has won three straight and has points in four straight games (3-0-1). Charlie Lindgren made 23 saves.

“I’m happy for ‘Frankie’ and Sonny to take this opportunity to show that it doesn’t matter what’s going to happen, we can fill [in for] those guys if we get injuries,” Ovechkin said. “I’m happy for them, they are working hard and a big part of the success tonight.”

Brendan Gallagher and Mike Matheson each had a power-play goal and an assist for Montreal (10-7-3), which has lost five straight (0-4-1).

“I think it’s a fine line between where our game was a month ago to where it is now, but there’s work to be done,” Gallagher said.

Sam Montembeault allowed three goals on 10 shots and was replaced after Frank scored his second goal in a span of 1:38 at 3:38 of the second. Jakub Dobes made 21 saves in relief.

Ovechkin put the Capitals up 1-0 with a power-play goal at 1:00 of the first period. The Washington captain got his 905th goal with a wrist shot past Montembeault stick side two seconds after Strome drew the puck back to him off a face-off in the right circle.

“There were just so many emotions going through my mind,” Strome said. “First of all you want to make sure everyone’s OK. It’s a pretty scary thing. At the time of the first period, I kind of thought I was going to make it home in time, maybe. Obviously that didn’t happen but I just tried to focus on hockey and the guys were right there with me, and they kind of knew a little bit before the game what was going on. So I found out after warmups that she was at the hospital.”

Gallagher tied it 1-1 on a power play at 15:47 with his first goal since April 8. Initially waved off, a video review determined the puck had crossed the goal line before it was cleared by Capitals defenseman Matt Roy.

Frank made it 2-1 on a power play at 2:00 of the second period when he took Ovechkin’s pass from the right side at the top of the slot and fired a wrist shot past Montembeault glove side.

Frank pushed it to 3-1 at 3:38. He drove the left side to get to a flip pass from Aliaksei Protas and scored on a wrist shot from the left face-off circle that beat Montembeault five-hole.

Joe Veleno drew Montreal within 3-2 at 7:53 with a wrist shot into the top left corner from the right face-off dot.

Jakob Chychrun made it 4-2 at 14:26 when he moved up from the point and drove a slap shot past Dobes’ glove from the left side of the top of the slot.

Nick Suzuki cut the lead to 4-3 at 15:04, firing a huge rebound of Alexandre Carrier’s slap shot from the top of the right face-off circle into a wide-open net from the left face-off dot.

Milano gave the Capitals their third two-goal lead when he made it 5-3 at 17:25.

Matheson drew the Canadiens within 5-4 at 5:37 of the third period when he scored on a one-timer from the slot on a pass from Cole Caufield.

Ovechkin put Washington up by two for the fourth time at 6-4 with his second of the game at 16:03, a wrist shot over Dobes for his 906th goal. It was Ovechkin’s 1,642nd point, moving ahead of Sakic for 10th place on the all-time list.

Ovechkin made it 7-4 at 17:56, scoring into an empty net for his 907th goal, and his seventh in six games.

Milano scored at 18:34 for the 8-4 final.

“I think point blank we’re just giving up way too much,” Matheson said. “We’re giving up odd-man rushes, breakaways, point-blank shots in the slot. No matter how your goalie’s feeling that’s not going to help them, so we’ve got to fix that and quick.”

NOTES: Montreal forward Jake Evans left the game after the second period with an undisclosed injury. Evans went to the dressing room after taking a hard check from Tom Wilson on the play leading up to Chychrun’s goal. He returned to play one 28-second shift to end the period before leaving for good. … Ovechkin is the third 40-year-old player in NHL history to have a four-game goal streak. Dean Prentice of the Minnesota North Stars (1972-73) and Jaromir Jagr of the Dallas Stars (2012-13) each had two four-game goal streaks in their 40s. … Ovechkin became the sixth player in NHL history with a hat trick at age 40 or older, following Gordie Howe, Johnny Bucyk, Jagr, Nicklas Lidstrom and Teemu Selanne (March 28, 2011). … Gallagher’s goal was his 240th, all with Montreal, moving him ahead of Bob Gainey into 15th place in Canadiens history.