Capital Rookie Beats Ducks

Except for maybe Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Scott Niedermayer, there isn’t a Mighty Duck player who can match the natural talent of electrifying rookie forward Alexander Ovechkin.

And while the young star is very much a one-man show for the Washington Capitals, he drove home the point of his wondrous gifts with a command performance Friday night at the Arrowhead Pond.

Ovechkin scored each goal for the lowly Capitals, including the game-winner to cap his first career hat trick at 3 minutes 4 seconds of overtime to give them a 3-2 victory over the Ducks.

The goal gave the blossoming 20-year-old star 12 goals in his last 12 games and 30 for the season to top all rookies. No other Washington player has more than 10 goals.

“It’s my first hat trick in the NHL and it feels like my first goal in the NHL,” said Ovechkin, who ranks third in goals behind Atlanta’s Ilya Kovalchuk and Philadelphia’s Simon Gagne.

Ovechkin is on a pace for 57 goals, which would be the most by a first-year player since Teemu Selanne set the record for rookies with 76 for Winnipeg in 1992-93.

“In our minds, we got beat by a very special player tonight,” Duck Coach Randy Carlyle said.

It was simply a highlight-reel night for the left wing from Moscow, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 draft. Ovechkin finished the game by rushing up the ice and measuring Duck defenseman Francois Beauchemin for a screen before snapping a wrist shot between the legs of Beauchemin and goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

Washington goaltender Brent Johnson, getting the start in place of Olie Kolzig, was strong in the net as he made 32 saves. Johnson made two big stops early in overtime as he foiled Niedermayer and Joffrey Lupul.

The loss was just the third for the Ducks (19-16-8) in their last 11 home games but two of them have been in overtime, which has become their albatross. Their record in overtime games dropped to an NHL-worst 1-8, which includes four shootouts.

The defeat was all the more discouraging because the Capitals (14-24-5) had lost their sixth game in a row the night before in Dallas, and the Ducks were off since Monday’s rousing 6-2 victory over the Kings.

“There’s no excuse in not getting two points tonight,” Lupul said.

Early in the second period, Ovechkin blew past Duck left wing Todd Fedoruk to catch up to a pass from teammate Chris Clark and put a nifty backhand shot past Giguere.

Lupul scored his 16th goal, giving the second-year forward 35 points after 44 games as he topped the 34 he had in 2003-04.

But that only set the stage for Ovechkin.

At 12:06 of the second, he got defenseman Ruslan Salei moving in one direction before dragging the puck back across his body and spinning completely around to his right hand to rip a shot past Giguere for a 2-1 lead.

Travis Moen lifted the sluggish Ducks back into a tie late in the second with a blistering slap shot that beat Johnson on his glove side.

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Rookie sensation

Alexander Ovechkin of Washington scored three goals against Anaheim to move into third place in goals scored:

*--* PLAYER, TEAM GP G 1. Ilya Kovalchuk, Atlanta 42 34 2. Simon Gagne, Phila. 38 31 3. Alex. Ovechkin, Wash. 43 30 4. Jaromir Jagr, NYR 44 28 5. (tie) Dany Heatley, Ottawa 42 27 Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa 38 27

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