LAS VEGAS — Alex Ovechkin scored three goals Sunday night to continue his pursuit of Wayne Gretzy’s career record, and former Golden Knight Logan Thompson saved 40 shots in his first game back at T-Mobile Arena as the Washington Capitals beat Vegas 5-2.

LAS VEGAS -- Alex Ovechkin scored a hat trick for the Washington Capitals in a 5-2 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday. It was the 31st NHL hat trick for Ovechkin, who has 866 goals. He is 29 away from surpassing Wayne Gretzky ’s NHL record of 894 goals.

Ovechkin got on the board in the first when his shot went off of Alex Pietrangelo and past Ilya Samsonov (the 177th goalie he's scored on) to give Washington an early lead on the power play. It marked his 315th career PPG and also marked his fourth straight game with a point.

Alex Ovchkin recorded his first hat trick of the season, scoring three goals Sunday night for the Washington Capitals in their 5-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights.

Alex Ovechkin notched his 31st career hat trick and Logan Thompson made 40 saves to lead the Washington Capitals to a 5-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday night in Las Vegas.

Capitals star Alex Ovechkin scored a massive hat trick against the Golden Knights to draw closer to Wayne Gretzky.

The Golden Knights lost 5-2 to the Washington Capitals at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday. Left wing Brett Howden and right wing Keegan Kolesar scored, and Ilya Samsonov made 20 saves in his first start since Oct.