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Ovechkin's hat trick lifts Capitals over Thrashers

Dec 16, 2006 - 4:50 AM ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Alex Ovechkin again showed why he is one of the most dangerous players in the NHL.

Ovechkin completed a hat trick just six seconds into overtime, lifting the Washington Capitals to a 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers.

The reigning Calder Trophy winner, Ovechkin now has 21 goals this season, one behind league leaders Brendan Shanahan of the New York Rangers and Marian Hossa of the Thrashers.

"It was very important to get the win," Ovechkin said. "We played very well."

With Washington trailing, 2-1, Ovechkin took a backhand pass from Dainius Zubrus in the slot and snapped a shot between the pads of goaltender Kari Lehtonen with 31 seconds remaining in the third period.

Off the opening faceoff in overtime, the puck squirted to Atlanta's blue line, where Ovechkin gained possession. The 21-year-old Russian superstar carried down the right side and blasted a shot from the faceoff dot over Lehtonen's glove, completing his second career hat trick and giving Washington its sixth win in eight games.

"I'm happy I scored," Ovechkin said. "When you play in the NHL and score a hat trick, it's always special. I just try to shoot the puck and just score goals. Today, I had luck."

"(The puck) was rolling when he shot it, and it was just a lucky bounce," Lehtonen said of the decisive tally. "That's how it goes sometimes."

Ovechkin opened the scoring at 8:55 of the first period, when he redirected a pass from Zubrus past Lehtonen from the edge of the crease while on a power play.

The victory helped erase the bad taste in the Capitals' mouths after squandering a 4-0 lead en route to a 5-4 shootout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday.

"I'm just proud of my guys," Washington coach Glen Hanlon said. "I thought it was a solid team win. We came back tonight and played our best game of the year, without a doubt."

J.P. Vigier had given the Thrashers a 2-1 lead with 5:55 to go in the third, when he received a pass from Niko Kapanen and blasted a shot from the right circle between netminder Brent Johnson's pads for his fourth of the season.

Jon Sim also tallied for Atlanta, which has lost four straight.

"It was a game of mistakes, and no one does it on purpose," Atlanta coach Bob Hartley said. "It's a real tough loss to digest because I felt that we could not have played better in the third period. We could say that we are leaving with a point, but that is not acceptable and not good enough. That's a loser's mentality. I feel that we lost a point."

There was no repeat performance from the last time the clubs met on November 22, when Atlanta posted a 4-2 victory. There were nine fighting majors handed out in that contest, leading to the suspensions of Washington's Donald Brashear (three games) and Brian Sutherby (one) as well as Atlanta captain Scott Mellanby (one).