Ovechkin sets NHL mark with hat trick against 21st franchise, Capitals top Mammoth

SALT LAKE CITY – Alex Ovechkin set an NHL record by scoring a hat trick against a 21st franchise, and the Washington Capitals defeated the Utah Mammoth 7-4 at Delta Center on Thursday.

The Washington captain passed Brett Hull, who did it against 20 different franchises. It was his 34th career hat trick, passing Hull for fourth place on the NHL’s all-time list, behind Wayne Gretzky (50), Mario Lemieux (40) and Mike Bossy (39).

“I think (in the) second period we played solid,” said Ovechkin, the NHL career goals leader with 926. “We controlled the puck. We did exactly what we needed to (in the) offensive zone, and you can see like Duhaime, (Wilson), those guys set the tone.”

Ivan Miroshnichenko had his first two-goal game in the NHL, and Anthony Beauvillier and Rasmus Sandin each had a goal and an assist for the Capitals (36-28-9), who have won three of their past five games.  Logan Thompson made 36 saves.

“We haven't scored at that clip in a while, and goals have been hard to come by since Calgary (on March 9),” said Capitals coach Spencer Carbery. “(Miroshnichenko) gets a couple big goals for us. (Ovechkin), obviously just amazing at what he does tonight for our group. You could feel it on the bench, the confidence that builds when a few go in the back of the net for us.”

The Capitals are six points behind the New York Islanders for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with nine games remaining.

Dylan Guenther scored twice, and Clayton Keller and Mikhail Sergachev each had three assists for the Mammoth (37-30-6), who went 1-3-0 on their four-game homestand. Vitek Vanecek allowed six goals on 23 shots. He was replaced at 9:54 of the third period by Karel Vejmelka, who made one save.

“I am disappointed in the way we controlled our emotions,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said after his team took 50 penalty minutes in the game. “I am a big believer in team toughness, showing up for your teammates, and stuff like that. But there is a way to do it. The more important thing is that we got carried away emotionally.”

The Mammoth are three points ahead of the Nashville Predators for the first wild card from the Western Conference.

Miroshnichenko scored at 2:07 of the first period on a slap shot past the blocker side of Vanecek to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead.

“He really wanted that one,” said Capitals forward Hendrix Lapierre. “When I turned up, I saw him kind of cranked and I knew he was ready to shoot it. So I’m glad it went in.”

Guenther scored a power-play goal at 13:04, beating Thompson with a one-timer on the glove side off a pass from Keller to tie the game 1-1.

Guenther scored again at 16:59, sliding the puck between the legs of Thompson off a pass from Keller to give the Mammoth a 2-1 lead.

Logan Cooley scored a power-play goal at 19:53, tapping in a loose puck that was behind Thompson off a shot from Sergachev to make it 3-1.

“I thought the first period, we were moving it well,” said Cooley. “I think we kind of just started to let it slip, give up some odd-man rushes, and they capitalized. Every game is so important right now, and it stings.”

Ovechkin scored his first of the game at 5:01 of the second period, tapping in a shot by Sandin to cut the lead to 3-2.

“It's a hard situation for us, but you never know what's going to happen,” said Ovechkin.

Ovechkin then tied it 3-3 at 11:28 with a wrist shot from the point past Vanecek.

Beauvillier scored a power-play goal at 2:43 of the third period, tipping in a shot from Cole Hutson to give the Capitals a 4-3 lead.

“I think everybody was emotionally involved. It was a tough game on both sides,” said Beauvillier. “I think winning a game like that with lots of emotion feels great. We're still in the fight where we got two points, and we're going to fight till the end.”

Sandin extended the lead to 5-3 at 6:02, putting the puck on net from the point while Vanecek was out of position.

“Everyone needs to contribute with whatever they can,” said Sandin. “If it's scoring a goal or if it's blocking a shot, I think we did that tonight.”

MacKenzie Weegar made it 5-4 at 8:06, scoring with a wrist shot from the point past Thompson. It was his first goal with the Mammoth since being acquired from the Calgary Flames on March 4.

Miroshnichenko scored his second goal at 9:54, flicking a backhand through the legs of Vanecek to push the lead back to 6-4.

Ovechkin scored an empty-net goal, his 29th of the season, at 19:54 for the 7-4 final.

“We're just going to try to take it game by game,” Carbery said. “It's going to be a difficult road, but we're just focused on one game. So if we could get two points tonight, we did. We're staying in this fight and that's what we're going to focus on going into Vegas.”

NOTES: Ovechkin scored twice against Vanecek, his former Capitals teammate, to extend his NHL record for the most goalies scored on (189).  … Ovechkin got his second hat trick this season, becoming the third player in NHL history with more than one at age 40 or older, joining Gordie Howe (three) and Johnny Bucyk (two).