Ovechkin hits 50-goal mark with hat trick vs. Blues
With his third goal of the game against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin picked up his 50th goal of the season.
It marks the third straight season and the seventh time in his career that he has hit the milestone.
Ovechkin entered Saturday's contest three goals shy of the half-century mark with just two games remaining.
The goal also makes Ovechkin the first player in NHL history to score 50 goals in three consecutive seasons twice, doing so between 2007 and 2010 and 2013 to 2016.
#Caps Alex Ovechkin is the third player in NHL history to score 50 goals in a season seven times (Mike Bossy: 9, Wayne Gretzky: 9).
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) April 10, 2016
This season will also mark the third straight in which Ovechkin has been the only player to hit the 50-goal plateau.
In case there wasn't enough history behind the goal, it also helped the 30-year-old pass Brian Trottier for 33rd on the league's all-time goals list.