Capitals Beat Senators 5-4 (SO), Ovechkin Tallys 18th Career Hat Trick

The Capitals beat the Senators 5-4 (SO) Thursday night at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. The Capitals head home for their home opener Saturday night when they host the Montreal Canadiens at Capital One Arena. Puck drop is 7:00PM.

Braden Holtby got the start in goal for the Capitals, with Craig Anderson getting the call for the Senators. Christian Djoos and Nathan Walker were healthy scratches for the Caps and Tom Wilson served the first of his four-game suspension for his hit in the final preseason game.

#Caps lines tonight vs. Ottawa in 2017-18 season opener: 65-19-77, 8-92-13, 10-20-39, 91-83-25. Defense: 44-74, 9-2, 55-4. Scratches: 29, 79. Suspended: 43. Holtby vs. Anderson. #CapsSens

— Mike Vogel (@VogsCaps) October 5, 2017

FIRST PERIOD
The game got off to a fairly fluid start, however once again shots on goal were hard to come by early in the period. The Sens would be the first to get on the scoreboard with a goal by Chris Wideman at the 6:25 mark of the opening frame. This was the Sens first official shot on goal for the game.

The Capitals would strike back with a goal by Brett Connolly at the 8:07 mark of the first period. The goal was setup with a nice feed from Lars Eller.

The radio call by John Walton:

Shots on goal were 4-4 with 7:00 left in the opening frame. The first period would conclude with the game tied 1-1. The Caps lead in shots on goal 6-5 after the first period off play.

SECOND PERIOD
The Caps came out with an excellent forecheck to start the middle frame, as nearly all of the play was in the Sens zone for the first four minutes of play. The Sens would gather themselves, even-up play through the middle part of the second period, and take the lead on a goal by Mark Stone at 6:52 of the middle frame. The goal was setup following a poor exit pass and turnover by John Carlson in the Caps defensive zone.

Mark Stone notches his first goal of the season and the #Sens jump back out to a 2-1 lead. #GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/gNdcTGfL5n

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) October 6, 2017

That would be all of the scoring for the middle frame, as the Sens led 2-1 after 40 minutes of play. The Caps led in shots on goal 12-11 for the second period and led 18-16 after two periods of play.

THIRD PERIOD
The Senators would stretch their lead to 3-1 on a goal by Derick Brassard just 2:03 into the final frame.

The Caps would close the gap to 3-2 on a blast from the Captain Alex Ovechkin, making it 3-2 at the 4:15 mark of the final frame.

Ovi’s number ☝️#ALLCAPS #CapsSens on @NBCSWashington pic.twitter.com/yKq0DF9qpY

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 6, 2017

The radio call by John Walton:

Ovechkin would tie the game on the end of a beautiful give and go with Evgeny Kuznetsov at 5:38 of the final period.

12 years ago today Ovi started his career with a 2-goal performance #ALLCAPS #CapsSens on @NBCSWashington pic.twitter.com/uxlLiq5PRm

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 6, 2017

The radio call by John Walton:

But just like that, the Sens would recapture lead with Mark Stone’s second of the game at 6:55 of the final frame.

Alex Ovechkin would once again tie it with a goal at 10:48 of the third period, giving Ovechkin the hat trick for the period. The three goals came in a span of 6 minutes and 33 seconds, the quickest hat trick of his career.

🎩🎩🎩!!! @ovi8 #ALLCAPS #CapsSens on @NBCSWashington pic.twitter.com/HcCSMqMY11

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 6, 2017

The call from John Walton:

Regulation would end with the game tied 4-4. Ottawa outshot the Caps 10-7 for the final frame. The Sens led in shots on goal 26-25 through three periods of play.

OVERTIME/SHOOTOUT
The Capitals and Senators would go scoreless through the five-minute overtime. The Sens had a 4-on-3 advantage for two minutes of he extra frame, but could not convert. The Capitals would win it in the shootout with goals from Ovechkin and Kuznetsov.

John Walton with the call: