The Buzzer: Ovechkin remains red hot; Beauvillier lifts Islanders in OT

Three Stars

1) Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals

The Russian superstar is on an incredible pace and added his third hat trick of 2020 on his quest to reach 700 career goals. Ovechkin recorded a natural hat trick in the final six minutes and 10 seconds as the Washington Capitals erased a one-goal third-period deficit in a 4-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings. Ovechkin became the second player in NHL history to reach the 40-goal mark for the 11^th time in his career, trailing only Wayne Gretzky’s record of 12 seasons. Players have often struggled when approaching a momentous milestone in their career, but Ovechkin has 14 goals in the previous seven games as he prepares to join an illustrious group.

2) Anthony Beauvillier, New York Islanders

The 22-year-old forward opened and closed the scoring in the Islanders’ 4-3 overtime victory against the Dallas Stars Tuesday. Beauvillier started the night with a beautiful backhander 90 seconds into the game. Jordan Eberle delivered a perfect pass which allowed Beauvillier to get behind the Stars defense. In overtime, Brock Nelson forced a neutral-zone turnover and set up Beauvillier for the overtime winner. No. 18 has five goals and four assists in the previous seven games.

3) Andre Burakovsky, Colorado Avalanche

Burakovsky has proven to be a wise offseason acquisition by Joe Sakic and continued his strong season with a career best four-point performance in the Colorado’s 6-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres. Burakovsky picked up his 17th of the season with a wicked wrist shot in the opening period. He also dished out three assists including a deft pass to set up Nikita Zadorov in the second period. The Avalanche were looking to add scoring depth to complement their top line and Burakovsky has helped fill the void.

Other Notable Performances

• Joe Thornton became the 14th player to score 1,500 NHL point with two assists.
• Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves and improved to 14-0-2 in his last 16 starts.
• Kieffer Bellows recorded his first career point in his NHL debut.
• Tuukka Rask picked up his fourth shutout of the season as the Boston Bruins extended their winning streak to four games with a 4-0 win against the Vancouver Canucks.
• Cale Makar set the record for most points by a rookie defenseman in Colorado Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history with 27th assist and 38th point this season.
• Antti Raanta recorded his second shutout of the season in the Arizona Coyotes’ 3-0 win against the Edmonton Oilers.
• Ilya Kovalchuk netted the only goal in the shootout in the Montreal Canadiens’ 5-4 win against the New Jersey Devils.

Highlights of the Night

It is hard enough to control a bouncing puck off the boards, but Mathew Barzal was able to place his stick between his legs and score a third-period equalizer in the process.

Zach Werenski fired a wrist shot past his former teammate Sergei Bobrovsky to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 1-0 overtime victory against the Florida Panthers.

Bloopers of the Night

Samuel Girard knew where the puck was, but nobody else on the ice had any idea until it was too late.

Anybody have an idea where Alex Stalock was going early in the first period? Fortunately, the Wild survived the phantom delayed penalty.

Stats of the Night

The @StLouisBlues improved to 10-0-1 in their last 11 games at Enterprise Center – tied for the fourth-longest home point streak in franchise history. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/eCCsClVbqb

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 5, 2020

How good has @Merzly30 been in 2020?

He improved to 7-0-0 in his last seven appearances dating to Jan. 11 and extended the @BlueJacketsNHL record for longest win streak by a rookie goaltender – a run which includes four shutouts. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/DziV2tM6xH

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 5, 2020

Scores

Boston Bruins 4, Vancouver Canucks 0

New York Islanders 4, Dallas Stars 3 (OT)

Colorado Avalanche 6, Buffalo Sabres 1

Tampa Bay Lightning 4, Vegas Golden Knights 2

Montreal Canadiens 5, New Jersey Devils 4 (SO)

Washington Capitals 4, Los Angeles Kings 2

Columbus Blue Jackets 1, Florida Panthers 0 (OT)

Anaheim Ducks 3, Ottawa Senators 2 (SO)

St. Louis Blues 6, Carolina Hurricanes 3

Minnesota Wild 3, Chicago Blackhawks 2 (OT)

Nashville Predators 2, Winnipeg Jets 1 (OT)

San Jose Sharks 3, Calgary Flames 1

Arizona Coyotes 3, Edmonton Oilers 0

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Scott Charles is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at [e-mail] or follow him on Twitter @ScottMCharles.