Alexander Ovechkin, Jonathan Toews, Top Highlights from Jan. 18

Washington Capitals winger Alexander Ovechkin continued to move up the NHL scoring chart Saturday, when his hat-trick against the New York Islanders sent him into joint-ninth place on the league's all-time goals list.

The 34-year-old, who has 692 goals in his 15-year career, surpassed Pittsburgh Penguins legend Mario Lemieux with a third-period tally at the Nassau Coliseum.

That effort sparked a four-goal run for the Capitals, who came from behind to defeat the Islanders, which created an 11-point difference between the two sides in the Metropolitan Division.

While the spotlight rightfully belonged to Ovechkin, a few of the league's other top players, including Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks, turned in spectacular performances Saturday.

Saturday's NHL Scores

Washington 6, New York Islanders 4

Colorado 5, St. Louis 3

Edmonton 7, Arizona 3

Ottawa 5, Calgary 2

Chicago 6, Toronto 2

Montreal 5, Vegas 4 (Final/Shootout)

Florida 4, Detroit 1

Philadelphia 4, Los Angeles 1

Columbus 5, New Jersey 0 

Nashville 2, Buffalo 1

Minnesota 7, Dallas 0

Vancouver 4, San Jose 1

Alexander Ovechkin's Hat-Trick Moves Him Up Scoring Chart

Jonathan Toews' 4-Point Night

Connor McDavid Scores 2 More Goals

Dominik Kubalik's Swinging Shot

Ryan Donato's Slick Hand Skills

Cale Makar Blisters the Net with Shot From the Wing

Tomas Tatar Wins Shootout for Montreal

Elvis Merzlikins Continues Hot Streak in Goal

Aleksander Barkov's Close-Range Redirection

Travis Konecny Scores Twice

Ovechkin's Earns Back-to-Back Hat-Tricks

Ovechkin's Saturday hat-trick was his second in a row for the Metropolitan Division-leading Caps.

The Russian became the third player in NHL history to record back-to-back three-goal performances on three or more occasions, per NHL Public Relations:

In his past three games, Ovechkin has been responsible for eight of Washington's 13 tallies in wins over the Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders.

Ovechkin passed Lemieux with his second tally of the contest and then tied Steve Yzerman for ninth place with his 34th goal of the season and 692nd of his career.

"It's great players there," Ovechkin said, per NHL.com. "It's something special. It's history. It's pretty cool. It's great names. I still have a year and a half [on my contract], and then we'll see what's up."

With eight more goals, the 11-time NHL All-Star will become only the eighth player in league history to record 700 tallies.

In addition to further etching his name into the record books, Ovechkin moved the Capitals six points ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the race for first place in the division.

After the All-Star break, the Capitals visit the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators and host the Nashville Predators before a February 2 showdown with the Penguins.

Toews Produces 4 Points in Chicago's Win Over Toronto

Toews carved up the Toronto Maple Leafs defense for two goals and two assists in the Blackhawks' 6-2 victory at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.

The performance marked the third time in the past four games in which the 31-year-old contributed at least a goal and an assist. It also marked the first time Toews scored twice in a single contest during the 2019-20 campaign.

Toews scored in the first and second periods and assisted on both of Dominik Kubalik's tallies.

The victory was the fourth in a row for Chicago, which is five points behind the Arizona Coyotes in the race for the Western Conference's second wild-card position.

"We're showing some maturity and character as a team," Toews said, per NHL.com's Dave McCarthy. He continued:

"We've found ways to make things interesting in games where we get leads in the first 40 minutes, but we knew we had to be determined to keep our foot down on the pedal. With their offense, when they get going and start feeling it, they can put a lot of pressure on you. There are not a whole lot of leads you feel comfortable with against this team."

The Blackhawks have a chance to gain more ground in the wild-card race Sunday, when they face a Winnipeg Jets team that is two points ahead of them.

Chicago also has a home contest with the Florida Panthers before it is off for the remainder of January. If it gets points from those games, it may be a major player in the wild-card hunt.

Sunday NHL Schedule

Boston at Pittsburgh (12:30 p.m. ET, NBC) 

New York Islanders at Carolina (5 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

Winnipeg at Chicago (7 p.m. ET, NHL Network) 

Columbus at New York Rangers (7 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from ESPN.com.