“Sonny Milano Nets Hat Trick as Capitals Triumph Over Hurricanes 7-6 in Shootout”

WASHINGTON — Sonny Milano recorded his first NHL hat trick, Alex Ovechkin scored again, and the Washington Capitals broke the Carolina Hurricanes’ five-game winning streak with a 7-6 shootout victory Friday night, which might be critical in their playoff hopes.

Ovechkin’s goal was his 846th in the NHL, while Milano scored one of his three by juggling the puck off his stick and hitting it into the net in front of a raucous crowd in Washington. Fans screamed “Ovi! Ovi!” after he scored for the sixth time in four games to reach 24 this season, which has increased his prospects of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record, and ultimately tossed caps on the ice following the news of

It all tallied up to the Capitals’ fourth win in five games, as they moved one point behind Detroit for the second and last wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference and two behind Philadelphia for third place in the Metropolitan Division. They’ve played one fewer game than either of those clubs, and their postseason aspirations remain very much alive.

That’s due in large part to goaltender Charlie Lindgren, who was excellent in relief of starter Darcy Kuemper, who was yanked after two periods after allowing four goals on 22 shots. Lindgren made seven stops in the third period and overtime.

Carolina, a potential first-round opponent, lost for the second time since acquiring Jake Guentzel from Pittsburgh and Evgeny Kuznetsov from Washington at the trade deadline. Sebastian Aho scored a hat trick to bring his season total to 30 goals, while Jaccob Slavin, Brady Skjei, and Seth Jarvis also scored for the Hurricanes, while Guentzel assisted three times.

Pyotr Kochetkov allowed six goals on 25 shots to begin the second part of a back-to-back after Frederik Andersen defeated the Flyers in overtime on Thursday night.

Back in his old stadium two weeks after being traded, Kuznetsov received a standing ovation during and after an emotional video tribute early in the game.

The Capitals were again without injured forwards T.J. Oshie and Aliaksei Protas, as well as winger Tom Wilson, who began serving a six-game suspension for swinging his stick and punching an opponent in the face late in a 7-3 defeat to Toronto on Wednesday night.