Alex Ovechkin had his 33rd career hat trick and added an assist to move into 10th place on the NHL points list, helping the Washington Capitals beat Montreal 8-4 on Thursday night to hand the Canadiens their fifth straight loss.

The Capitals just secured an 8-4 win over the Canadiens, and in the process, Alex Ovechkin joined the top-10 in all time points.

Canadiens forward Jake Evans exited the game early after a second-period collision with Tom Wilson that drew backlash but no penalty. “I just thought it was high,” Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis said about Wilson’s hit. “I thought he came from a long distance and high.”

Watch parties, special skates and youth hockey development programming highlight Caps winter initiatives across local outdoor ice rinks

Washington Capitals (8-7-1, in the Metropolitan Division) vs. Florida Panthers (8-7-1, in the Atlantic Division) Sunrise, Florida; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: The Florida Panthers and the Washington Capitals take the ice in Eastern Conference play.

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.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have loaned forward Bogdan Trineyev to the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL), senior vice president and general manager Chris Patrick announced today. In addition, the Capitals have activated forward Nic Dowd from Injured Reserve (IR).

The Montreal Canadiens (10-6-3) will play the Washington Capitals (9-8-2) at Bell Centre on Thursday. The moneyline on this game has Washington at +125 and Montreal is coming in at -145. The total is set at 6.5.