Photo: @Capitals

On a night in which the Capitals lost Tom Wilson and got some spectacular saves from Braden Holtby, it was star center Nicklas Backstrom who stole the show with a four-point night, including his second career hat trick, which came on an assist from none other than his longtime running mate Alex Ovechkin in a 6-3 win over the New Jersey Devils.Coming on the heels of a three-point night that pushed him past Capitals great Peter Bondra for second place on the franchise scoring list, Backstrom followed that up with a 3 + 1 night in D.C. on Friday night. His first tally came nearly four minutes into the opening frame (also on an assist from Ovechkin):

His second marker came with the man-advantage at the 10:57 mark of the third period, on assists from Evgeny Kuznetsov and John Carlson:

His third and final lamp-lighter came with Devils goalie Keith Kinkaid pulled. After trying to set up Backstrom just a few moments earlier, Ovechkin dished the puck across the ice to a waiting Backstrom, who fired the puck past a sliding Taylor Hall to net his third of the night and his second career hat trick, both of which have come against Eastern Conference opponents (the last coming against the Tampa Bay Lightning):

NICKLAS. BACKSTROM. HAT TRICK. CAPS WIN 6-3! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/r8Cs97Ccz3

— NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) December 1, 2018

By Michael Fleetwood