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Alex Ovechkin - Washington Capitals - In Play! magazine
Alex Ovechkin scored a hat trick and moved to the brink of his NHL-record 20th career 30-goal season, while Mikael Granlund also tallied three times during the Ducks’ third-period comeback win. File photo: Tim Jarrold - In Play! magazine
27
Mar

NHL MARCH 26, 2026 – OVECHKIN HAS 34TH CAREER HAT TRICK TO PASS HULL FOR FOURTH MOST ALL-TIME

Alex Ovechkin tallied his third goal of the game with 5.2 seconds remaining in regulation to complete his 34th career hat trick and pass Brett Hull (33) for fourth place on the NHL’s all-time list. Wayne Gretzky (50), Mario Lemieux (40) and Mike Bossy (39) round out the top three.

  • Ovechkin scored his second hat trick this season (also Nov. 20, 2025) and became the third player in League history with more than one at age 40 or older, following Gordie Howe (3; Nov. 2, 1969, Feb. 16, 1969 & Feb. 6, 1969) and Johnny Bucyk (2; March 3, 1976 & Jan. 11, 1976). Ovechkin has at least one hat trick against 21 different franchises and passed Hull (20) for the most in NHL history.

GRANLUND CAPS COMEBACK WIN WITH BUZZER-BEATING HAT TRICK IN OVERTIME

Mikael Granlund scored two tying goals, including one in the final five minutes of regulation, before completing his hat trick with one second left in overtime to give Anaheim (41-27-4, 86 points) its League-leading 11th third-period comeback win of 2025-26 and 25th overall come-from-behind win of any fashion – the second-highest single-season total in franchise history.

  • Granlund tied Peter Douris (4:59 on Nov. 17, 1995) for the latest overtime goal in Ducks history and became the sixth Anaheim player to cap a hat trick with an extra-time tally. The others are Beckett Sennecke (Jan. 25, 2026), Troy Terry (Nov. 1, 2023), Cam Fowler (Nov. 4, 2018), Hampus Lindholm (Dec. 21, 2017) and Lubomir Visnovsky (March 4, 2011).
  • Granlund recorded his second hat trick since joining Anaheim this season and also recorded his second four-game goal streak with the club. He became the fifth Ducks player with multiple goal streaks of at least four games in a single season, joining Teemu Selanne (4 in 1998-99, 3 in 1996-97 & 2 in 1997-98), Terry (2 in 2021-22), Rickard Rakell (2 in 2017-18) and Corey Perry (2 in 2011-12).

McDAVID RECLAIMS ART ROSS RACE LEAD AS OILERS OUTLAST GOLDEN KNIGHTS

Connor McDavid reached the 800-assist milestone, added a goal and factored on the overtime winner as the Oilers (36-28-9, 81 points) opened a two-point lead on the Golden Knights (32-26-15, 79 points) for second place in the Pacific Division. McDavid (785 GP) became the third-fastest player in NHL history to 800 career helpers behind Wayne Gretzky (527 GP on Feb. 6, 1986) and Mario Lemieux (661 GP on March 26, 1996), the latter of whom hit the mark exactly 30 years before McDavid.

  • McDavid reached 121 points on the season to reclaim the Art Ross Trophy race lead from Nikita Kucherov (121) by virtue of having more goals. McDavid hit 41 on the campaign to pass Kucherov (40) for third place in the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy race which is led by Nathan MacKinnon (48), who tallied twice in the League-leading Avalanche’s win Thursday.

Kings, Kraken close gap on “playoff line” in Western Conference

The Kings (29-25-18, 76 points) and Kraken (32-29-10, 74 points) earned wins to climb within one and three points, respectively, of the Predators (34-29-9, 77 points) – who occupy the Western Conference’s final Wild Card spot and fell to the Devils on Thursday.

  • Darcy Kuemper (19 saves) recorded his 11th career shutout with Los Angeles to surpass Kelly Hrudey as well as Stephane Fiset for fifth most in franchise history, while Quinton Byfield (1-1—2) joined Adrian Kempe (4 GP in 2025-26) as the second Kings player in the past 30 years to record multiple points in four straight road games.
  • Brandon Montour (2-0—2) scored twice, including netting the winner in overtime, to help the Kraken survive a Lightning rally. Montour had a 101.56 mph blast at 8:37 of the third period according to NHL EDGE, which marked his second 100+ mph shot this season (also 101.38 mph on Feb. 26).

Canadiens, Penguins AND ISLANDERS IGNITED BY ROOKIES, VETERANS IN victories

The Canadiens inched closer to second place in the Atlantic Division, the Penguins climbed the Metropolitan Division and the Islanders reclaimed the Eastern Conference’s final Wild Card spot after spending two days outside of the playoff picture.

  • Zachary Bolduc (1-1—2) buried the winner to snap a 31-game goal drought and Jakub Dobes (25 saves) delivered his 24th victory of the season – most among all rookies – as the Canadiens (40-21-10, 90 points) opened a two-point lead on the idle Bruins (40-24-8, 88 points) for third place in the Atlantic Division. Dobes’ 24 wins on the campaign tied Carey Price (24 in 2007-08) for the seventh highest single-season total by a rookie in franchise history.
  • Erik Karlsson (1-2—3) put up another three-point performance as the Penguins (36-20-16, 88 points) earned a shootout victory against his former team in Ottawa and leapfrogged the Blue Jackets (38-23-11, 87 points) for second place in the Metropolitan Division standings. Karlsson recorded his third consecutive road game with three or more points – tied for the second-longest stretch by a defenseman in NHL history – and also surpassed former Senators captain and teammate Daniel Alfredsson (713) for the fifth-most assists by a Swedish player in NHL history.
  • Matthew Schaefer (0-2—2) factored on both New York goals to record his 53rd and 54th points of the season, matching Denis Potvin (54 in 1973-74) for the second most in a campaign by an Islanders rookie defenseman behind Stefan Persson (56 in 1977-78). The Islanders (41-27-5, 87 points) overtook the Senators (38-24-10, 86 points) for the second Wild Card spot in the East, while elsewhere in the Metropolitan Division, the Flyers (35-24-12, 82 points) stayed within five points of the “playoff line” with a win.

ERIKSSON EK’S LATE GO-AHEAD GOAL

After Marcus Foligno opened the scoring in his return to the lineup – and his first game as teammates with his brother Nick – the Panthers pulled even in the third period, but Joel Eriksson Ek found the back of the net with just five seconds remaining in regulation (59:55) to move the Wild (41-20-12, 94 points) within three points of the Stars (43-18-11, 97 points) for second place in the Central Division.

ATLANTIC DIVISION ADVERSARIES MEET IN POTENTIAL FIRST ROUND PREVIEW

The Atlantic Division-leading Sabres (44-20-8, 96 points) welcome the Detroit Red Wings (38-25-8, 84 points) to KeyBank Center as the latter looks to climb back into the Eastern Conference playoff picture after spending 123 game days in that position in 2025-26. Buffalo and Detroit, which last made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2010-11 and 2015-16, could meet in the First Round should the Red Wings overtake the Islanders (41-27-5, 87 points) and Senators (38-24-10, 86 points) in the East’s crowded Wild Card race.

  • The Sabres are among the NHL’s leaders in goals per game at home in 2025-26 (3.57 G/GP) – the franchise’s third highest in one season since 1994-95 (3.93 in 2006-07 & 3.68 in 2005-06) – and have done so with the aid of Tage Thompson (36-38—74 in 72 GP).
  • Another American star suits up on the visiting side as Dylan Larkin (29-27—56 in 64 GP) leads Detroit’s playoff push. Larkin sits one goal shy of becoming the fifth player in franchise history with six career 30-goal seasons alongside Gordie Howe (14), Steve Yzerman (11), Sergei Fedorov (9) and Brendan Shanahan (7).

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Guest Writer