Alex Ovechkin scored three times in the second period for his 14th career hat-trick as the Washington Capitals beat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 on Thursday night.
Ovechkin, who leads the league with 34 goals, has 13 in his past 13 games. Nicklas Backstrom had three assists, while Jason Chimera added an empty-netter for Washington, who improved to a league-best 20-5-2 on the road.
Braden Holtby made 33 saves for the Capitals, who won their fifth consecutive game and became the first team to reach 40 victories this season.
Charlie Coyle, Ryan Suter and Mikael Granlund scored for the Wild, but Minnesota lost for the 12th time in their past 13 games (1-10-2). Devan Dubnyk made 29 saves for the Wild, who have lost seven in a row at home (0-4-3).
STARS 4, BLACKHAWKS 2
In Chicago, Patrick Eaves scored three of Dallas’ four goals in the first period as the Stars avenged an ugly home loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Eaves’ second career hat-trick helped Dallas to their fifth win in six games and moved the Stars within one of the Blackhawks for the most points in the Western Conference. Dallas’ lone loss during the strong stretch was a 5-1 rout for visiting Chicago last Saturday night.
John Klingberg added a goal and an assist for Dallas.
Duncan Keith and Patrick Kane scored for the Blackhawks, who played without forward Artemi Panarin for the second straight game due to an illness.
ISLANDERS 5, KINGS 2
In New York, John Tavares had a goal and an assist, while Thomas Greiss stopped 28 shots as the New York Islanders scored three times in the first 14 minutes to beat Los Angeles.
Johnny Boychuk, Casey Cizikas and Anders Lee all scored in the first period and Travis Hamonic added an empty-netter in the third to help the Islanders win their third straight overall and third in a row at home. New York improved to 15-4-2 against Western Conference teams.
In other NHL action, it was:
Flyers 5, Sabres 1
Blue Jackets 4, Ducks 3, SO
Avalanche 4, Senators 3
Bruins 6, Jets 2
Oilers 5, Maple Leafs 2
Flames 6, Sharks 5, SO
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