On a night in which the struggling Capitals needed to rebound and end their five-game losing streak, it was their captain, Alex Ovechkin who did his part in an effort to end the skid against the San Jose Sharks, recording the 23rd hat trick of his career in an eventual 7-6 loss in overtime. 

Ovechkin’s first goal and his 34th of the 2018-19 season came at the 10:41 mark of the first period, on assists from Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie. The goal tied the game at 1-1 and came 10 minutes and 29 seconds after Joe Pavelski gave the Sharks an early 1-0 lead.

Ovechkin’s second goal of the night came 5:41 into the second period came on assists from both Backstrom and Oshie, giving the Caps a 5-3 lead over the Sharks.

Ovechkin’s third of the night gave him his 23rd hat trick in his 14-season career and the 400th even-strength goal of his career, making him the third player ever to have that many through 14 seasons.

Alex Ovechkin’s 3rd goal tonight for the @Capitals vs the Sharks was also his 400th career marker at even strength. He’s only the 3rd player to do that within their first 14 NHL seasons

— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) January 23, 2019

Ovechkin had four points tonight (3g, 1a), his 26th career game with at least four points. He’s now two points shy of passing Sergei Fedorov for the most points among Russian-born players all-time (Fedorov: 1,179 points).

Alex Ovechkin tied the game with a power play goal. With that goal, Ovechkin passed Dave Andreychuk (640) for 14th place on the NHL’s all-time scoring list.

Alex Ovechkin’s miltigoal game marks his 129th career multi-goal game.