Washington Capitals outlast Senators behind T.J. Oshie hat trick, two goals from Alex Ovechkin

The Washington Capitals won against the Ottawa Senators 7-5 in a wild Monday night affair. T.J. Oshie had a hat trick. So did Drake Batherson for the home team. Meanwhile Alex Ovechkin climbed up the goal scoring ladder.

Batherson gave the Senators a 1-0 lead with a goal at 2:26. The Caps would tie it with Oshie’s first of three goals after Trevor van Riemsdyk found him down low at 6:26.

The Caps would take the lead at 11:10. Connor McMichael passed the puck to Anthony Mantha. Mantha found Oshie at the doorstep with a backhanded pass.

A snapshot from Nick Jensen at 13:37 put the Caps up 3-1. Dmitry Orlov and Conor Sheary had the helpers.

Finally at 15:43 in the first, the Caps made it 4-1 with a top shelf shot from John Carlson. Lars Eller and Martin Fehervary had the assists. 4-1 was the score after the opening 20 minutes with the Caps leading in shots 18-13.

The second period was nothing short of frustrating… that is until the very end. Josh Norris cut the deficit in half at 5:57. Chris Tierney struck on the power play at 9:37. Batherson then added his second goal of the game at 11:16 to tie it.

Ovechkin stripped the puck at 16:27 and raced down to give the Caps the lead with his sixth goal of the season. It was also the 736th goal of his career. But he wasn’t done.

Oshie completed the hat trick battling for the puck along the boards before taking it in and putting the biscuit in the basket. McMichael had the assist for his second career NHL point and the goal came at 19:52. 6-4 was the score after 40 with the Senators leading in shots 16-6.

Batherson completed his hat trick at 6:32 in the third. So we got a dueling hat trick game for the first time since like 2009 when it was Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. At least in Caps history.

We almost had a triple hat trick game because the Caps answered from none other than Ovechkin. Tom Wilson fed him the puck for a shot up the middle at 10:46. It was Ovechkin’s seventh goal of the season which leads the NHL. It was also the 737th goal of his career. He is four away from number four Brett Hull. 29 away from number three Jaromir Jagr. So it’s looking like he can get to three by seasons end if he keeps it up. Ovechkin is 64 away from second place Gordie Howe and 157 away from Wayne Gretzky.

7-5 would be the final score. Ottawa would lead in shots 8-7 in the third and overall 37-31. Ilya Samsonov got the start in goal and made 32 saves out of 37 shots. The Caps are back in action on Wednesday night against the Detroit Red Wings.