Elias Lindholm completed his second career hat trick with the overtime-winning goal to give the visiting Calgary Flames a 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals on Saturday afternoon.
Lindholm, who has scored goals in every game this season, converted a two-on-one rush with Johnny Gaudreau for the winner 2:46 into the extra period for the Flames, who blew a 3-0 lead before recovering to claim their second consecutive win.
Lindholm, who has six goals this season, became just the second player in franchise history to score in the first four games of a campaign, joining Gary Roberts (1991-92).
Andrew Mangiapane also scored for the Flames, who received a 22-save performance from Dan Vladar in his first action of the season. Gaudreau’s assist on the winning goal was his 500th career NHL point.
Evgeny Kuznetsov, Martin Fehervary and Alex Ovechkin each scored in the second period for the Capitals, who are unbeaten in regulation this season. Ilya Samsonov, who took the net after the first period, stopped 14 shots. Starting netminder Vitek Vanecek was pulled after surrendering three goals on 14 shots.
The Flames staked a 3-0 lead with a dominating opening frame. Mangiapane opened the scoring by chipping a rebound home before the midway point to net his third goal in four games.
Lindholm doubled the lead with a one-timer from the top of the circle 92 seconds later, and made it a 3-0 affair with a highlight-reel, short-handed goal, outracing John Carlson for a loose puck and scoring on the ensuing breakaway with 2:42 left in the frame.
The Capitals replied in the second period. Kuznetsov’s short-handed goal — his fourth tally and ninth point of the season — put the hosts on the board three minutes into the period, and then Fehervary’s first NHL goal — a blast from the right circle — made it a one-goal game at 7:48 of the period.
Ovechkin notched his fifth goal in as many games this season with a rocket of a shot with 1:57 left in the period. Ovechkin, who has 10 points on the season, now has 735 goals in his career, which puts him six back of Brett Hull for fourth place in NHL history.
–Field Level Media
