Alex Ovechkin scored two goals after getting a hat trick the night before, and the Washington Capitals beat the Utah Hockey Club 6-2 in Salt Lake City, completing a sweep of their three-game road trip.
Ovechkin left the game in the third period after a leg-on-leg collision with Utah’s Jack McBain.
Dylan Strome and Brandon Duhaime each had a goal and an assist for Washington, while Charlie Lindgren made 24 saves.
Ovechkin now has 15 goals in 18 games this season and is just 27 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 894 goals.
McBain and Nick Bjugstad scored for Utah, which has lost three out of its last four games. Connor Ingram allowed four goals on 13 shots before being replaced by Karel Vejmelka in the second period.
Washington was 1-for-3 on the power play, while Utah went 0-for-7. McBain gave Utah a 1-0 lead at 3:05 of the first period, scoring on a rebound after Lindgren blocked Kevin Stenlund’s shot from the point.
Strome tied the game at 7:46 after he stole the puck in the Utah zone, skated behind the net, and banked the puck in off Ingram.
Nic Dowd put Washington ahead 2-1 just 10 seconds later. After the faceoff, Duhaime carried the puck into the Utah zone and passed it to Dowd, who scored.
Ovechkin made it 3-1 at 11:05 with a wrist shot from the slot, just after a Capitals power play ended.
Ovechkin increased the lead to 4-1 at 5:38 of the second period, scoring on a one-timer from the top of the left circle during another power play.
This was Ovechkin’s fifth consecutive game with a goal, and his second multi-goal performance in back-to-back games. Ovechkin also reached a couple of milestones with his two goals: he tied Jaromir Jagr for the most goalies scored upon in NHL history, with Ingram becoming his 178th victim. He is also the first player ever to have 100 career multi-goal road games, according to NHL.com.
Bjugstad pulled Utah within 4-2 at 11:44 when he scored on the rebound of Nick Schmaltz’s shot.
Duhaime made it 5-2 at 7:30 of the third period, skating down the left side and firing a shot over Ingram’s shoulder. Aliaksei Protas scored at 9:56 to make it 6-2, sealing the win for Washington.
