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NHL

Ovechkin's Hat Trick Buries the Panthers

Posted Feb 15, 2009 7:27PM By Ted Starkey (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Capitals, Panthers

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Alex Ovechkin had a pretty good weekend in Florida, scoring four goals in two games against the Lightning and the Panthers, and helping the Capitals build a fairly insurmountable lead in the race for their second straight Southeast Division title with a four-point weekend for Washington.

Ovechkin recorded a hat trick in the Caps' 4-2 win against Florida Sunday afternoon, giving him his eighth career hatter - and his second of the month of February - just when the Caps needed a pickup after blowing a two-goal lead to the Panthers. And the defending league MVP gave it to them with a terrific individual effort with just 2:31 to play in regulation to break a 2-2 tie.

Ovechkin opened the scoring early in the contest with a power-play goal with 4:22 left in the period to give the Caps an early 1-0 lead and beating Tomas Vokpun with a blast from the circle. After Eric Fehr gave Washington a two-goal lead early in the second period, the Panthers clawed their way back into the contest with some good pressure and the Capitals taking some bad penalties.

But that's where Ovechkin took over late.

With less than three minutes to play, Ovechkin picked up the puck deep in the Panthers end, and despite being well covered by Jay Bouwmeester, he let a shot fly from near the faceoff circle that eluded both Bouwmeester and Vokoun, and rang off the far pipe and in for his 40th goal of the season.

The goal gives Ovechkin his fourth consecutive 40-goal campaign, a mark he has reached in every season of his NHL career, and more importantly, the decisive goal in an important divisional contest.

But he wasn't done, as when the 'Cats pulled their goaltender to try and get the equalizer, Ovechkin scored a goal from along the boards deep in his own end, a puck that rolled in off the same far post and gave him his 41st of the season and a seven-goal lead in the Richard Trophy race over New Jersey's Zach Parise and Philadelphia's Jeff Carter, who are stuck at 34 following today's action.

As for Washington, they now hold a 13-point lead in the Southeast and snap Florida's five-game winning streak at BankAtlantic Center, taking a commanding edge in the race for one of the top seeds in the Eastern Conference. They also keep pace with the Devils, who earned a wild 6-5 win over San Jose, for the second seed in the East.

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