The Capitals got the better of the Oilers on home ice on Wednesday night -- but it wasn't easy, says star goaltender Logan Thompson.

Washington Capitals center Dylan Strome learned during the first intermission Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens that wife Tayler had given birth to their third daughter.

With those three goals, Ovechkin became the sixth player in NHL history to score a hat trick in his 40s, joining Jaromir Jagr, Gordie Howe (three times), Johnny Bucyk (twice), Teemu Selanne and Nicklas Lidstrom. At 40 years and 64 days old, he represents the ninth oldest player to accomplish the feat.

The NHL takes center stage on Thursday night with a dozen games on the docket. The Montreal Canadiens host the Washington Capitals for the first time since thei

WASHINGTON -- Ryan Leonard scored twice for his first multigoal game in the NHL, and the Washington Capitals defeated the Edmonton Oilers 7-4 at Capital One Arena on Wednesday.

The Habs draw the Caps on the second leg of a back-to-back set with travel, and Montreal is ripe to kick the losing skid and return to the wins column. A big part of turning the corner tonight will be Montembeault standing tall, too.

John Carlson has now played the second most games in the history of the Washington Capitals franchise, behind only Alex Ovechkin.