The Oilers get a desperately needed win in Carolina to conclude a disappointing road trip, but had to work extremely hard to end their five-game losing streak.

Alex Ovechkin had so many chance to score in the Washington Capitals' rout of the Edmonton Oilers that he joked, "I'll take three."

Starting in Carolina

Ovechkin tied Jaromir Jagr’s record with 135 game-winning goals, and the 32nd hat trick of his 20-year NHL career moved him into a tie for fifth with Phil Esposito.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored his 880th, 881st and 882nd career goals to record a hat trick and move 13 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record and give the Washington Capitals a 7-3 victory over Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday, moving back atop the league standings.

The sellout crowd of 18,753 immediately began to cheer, though, when Pickard skated to Edmonton’s bench, realizing this would provide Ovechkin with an opportunity to move closer to history. The fans then started chanting “Ovi! Ovi!’ while the Capitals defended in their zone.

In the middle frame, the Caps took over the contest. At 8:53, Ovechkin took a feed from Strome on a 3-on-2 rush and whipped it past Calvin Pickard for a 3-1 Washington lead. About 10 minutes later, he took a tee-up from Chychrun and fired one home from his left dot office on the power play, extending the Caps’ lead to 4-1.

WASHINGTON -- Alex Ovechkin fired a perfect wrist shot past Calvin Pickard for his first goal ... Scoring three goals in the Washington Capitals’ 7-3 rout Sunday of the Edmonton Oilers put ...