Capitals vs. Blackhawks Tuesday NHL odds, props: Alex Ovechkin hat trick would land him in 800-goal club with Gordie Howe, Wayne Gretzky

While it's unlikely, we may see NHL history tonight when Washington visits Chicago as Capitals legend Alex Ovechkin could join Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky as the only players in league history to score 800 career goals. Ovechkin has tallied 797 goals and thus would need a hat trick to do it tonight. He's got 28 of them in his career. The Caps are -220 favorites at Caesars Sportsbook.

Ovechkin is third on the all-time NHL goals list behind Gretzky (894) and Howe (801). Ovechkin's 28 hat tricks are tied for sixth all-time with Bobby Hull. Gretzky has the record with 50, followed by Mario Lemieux (40), Mike Bossy (399), Brett Hull (33) and Phil Esposito (32). The 37-year-old Ovechkin doesn't have one this season but has three games with two goals and enters on a three-game goal-scoring run. He's up to 17 on the year and is -110 to be an anytime scorer tonight at Caesars, +750 to be the game's first scorer and +750 to be the last.

The Russian has an over/under of 3.5 shots on goal and over/under of 1.5 total points, with the Under a -230 favorite. Because the Capitals and Blackhawks are in opposite conferences, Ovechkin has only faced Chicago 21 times. He has 11 career goals and 11 assists against the Blackhawks.

Washington hasn't missed the playoffs since the 2013-14 season but is currently on the outside looking in with 32 points. The Caps do enter on a four-game winning streak, their longest of the season. The team has been gutted by injuries this year with the likes of Nicklas Backstrom, Carl Hagelin and Tom Wilson still on injured reserve.

No. 1 goaltender Darcy Kuemper was put on IR Sunday so it should be Charlie Lindgren again tonight. He might be the new No. 1 as Lindgren was named the NHL's Second Star for last week. He was 3-0-0 with a 1.34 goals-against average and .953 save percentage. The 28-year-old is in his first season with Washington after splitting the 2021-22 campaign between the St. Louis Blues and the AHL Springfield Thunderbirds.

Tuesday's game concludes a stretch of eight road contests in nine games for Washington. The Capitals are 14-1-1 on the season in games in which they score at least three goals and have gone four straight games without allowing more than two goals for the first time since Feb. 25-March 3, 2021.

Chicago is in rebuild mode and has just 18 points, second fewest in the league. The Hawks do get presumed No. 1 goaltender Petr Mrazek back tonight from injured reserve. He has been out since Dec. 3, when he left a game against the New York Rangers because of a groin injury. He also missed eight games because of a groin injury sustained Oct. 21. Mrazek is 2-5-1 with a 4.05 GAA and .884 SV in nine games. Forward Tyler Johnson has been out since Oct. 24 but might return.

The Blackhawks are 7-2-2 in their last 11 games against the Capitals at the United Center dating to the beginning of the 2007-08 season, but those Chicago teams were all a lot better than this one. Patrick Kane has 18 points (7G, 11A) in 19 career games against the Capitals.

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