WASHINGTON -- Alex Ovechkin stretched out his arms in celebration, teammates mobbed him along the boards and jubilant fans launched their hats onto the ice.This was the performance they had waited to see.Ovechkin scored his first hat trick this season and 16th of his 10-year NHL career to lead the Washington Capitals over the St. Louis Blues 4-3 on Wednesday night.In the process, the three-time MVP and six-time goal-scoring champ showed the attitude that echoed his best seasons.He played with excitement again, Capitals coach Barry Trotz said of Ovechkin, whose 12 goals now tie him for second in the league. I think sometimes we say hes not scoring enough and all that. . Ive been reducing the minutes a little bit and spreading them out. Hes fresher and I think it will pay off in the long run.The 31-year-old Ovechkin played fewer than 16 minutes but had a goal in each period to move one hat trick ahead of Floridas Jaromir Jagr for the most among active players.Ovechkins second multi-goal game this season also propelled the Capitals to their third win through four games of a five-game homestand.Sometimes you just feel right away when you have an opportunity to shoot the puck, Ovechkin said, and obviously feel the puck on your stick and just go out there and use the momentum.Capitals linemate Evgeny Kuznetsov also scored and added an assist for Washington, which held a lead throughout the final two periods.The biggest thing is they were moving their feet and they were making plays, and they were decisive in what they were doing, Trotz said of the line that also included Andre Burakovsky.Vladimir Tarasenko got his eighth and ninth goals of the season for St. Louis, which scored twice in the final 75 seconds. Alex Pietrangelo added a late goal for the Blues, who had won four straight.The Blues fell behind after a first period in which they committed four penalties, the last of which led to Ovechkins first goal.When you dont use your legs, you end up using your stick, and thats whats happened, St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said. Theres too many of them early in the game. It sends the wrong message to the rest of the team.Ovechkin had already scored twice before Kuznetsovs goal made it 3-1 early in the third. And after a replay review found Ovechkin not to be guilty of being offside, he sent the home crowd into a frenzy only 24 seconds later.From a faceoff in the Caps end, he got the puck near his own blue line on the left and pushed forward quickly. With a man open to his right, Ovechkin instead unleashed a ferocious shot at full stride that caromed off goalie Carter Huttons glove and into the top left corner.Its fun to watch when hes making the shot and when hes feeling it, Kuznetsov said. Its tough to stop him.On a power play in the first, Ovechkin took Kuznetsovs feed and rifled a wrist shot that skimmed off and over Huttons left shoulder.Ovechkin made it 2-0 in the second when he took John Carlsons cross-ice feed and fired a slap shot from a similar spot inside the left faceoff circle off the goalies blocker.Game notes Ovechkin is one power-play goal shy of becoming the 18th player in NHL history to reach 200. ... Tarasenko has 13 points in his last 10 games. ... Capitals C Lars Eller (upper body) returned after a one-game absence, but RW T.J. Oshie (upper body) missed his second game. ... Washington outshot St. Louis 10-2 during the first period.UP NEXT:Blues: Begin a five-game homestand against Minnesota on Saturday.Capitals: Close a five-game homestand Friday against Buffalo. Nike Air Force Ones Sale . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. Cheap Air Force 1 . Varlamov made 33 saves and Ryan OReilly had a goal and scored in the shootout as the Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Thursday night. http://www.airforceforsalecheap.com/ . -- Josh Sterk scored once and set up two more as the Oshawa Generals edged the visiting Belleville Bulls 3-2 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. Cheap Air Force 1 Shoes Wholesale . Zvonareva, who won the tournament in 2009 and 10, couldnt handle her opponents big groundstrokes in only her third event back after 17 months out with a shoulder injury. Zvonareva made her comeback in January in Shenzhen and played in the Australian Open but lost her first matches at both tournaments. Nike Air Force 1 Cheap Outlet . Tuesdays surgery at Atlantas Piedmont Hospital was performed by Dr. Xavier Duralde and Hawks team physician Dr. Michael Bernot. EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Alex Murphy made a 3-pointer from the corner, and a handful of fans behind the Northeastern bench could sense an upset was near.Lets go Huskies! they began chanting, while the rest of the Breslin Center stayed mostly quiet.I think it was the hockey team, Murphy said.Murphy scored 18 points, and the Huskies capped a big day for Northeastern athletics with an 81-73 upset at Michigan State on Sunday night. The game was part of a tripleheader in East Lansing between the schools. Michigan State won the womens basketball game 78-44, and Northeastern beat the Spartans 6-2 in mens hockey.It was the second head-turning upset of the season for the Huskies in mens basketball. They won at Connecticut last month. In between that game and this one, Northeastern (6-5) lost to the likes of LIU Brooklyn, Cornell and Stony Brook.I tell my guys each and every year that we want to compete against the very best that the country has to offer, to make sure that we can measure ourselves and get better, Northeastern coach Bill Coen said. We want to compete against national championship-caliber programs, and thats what Michigan State is and always has been.Cassius Winston had 21 points and 10 assists for the Spartans (7-5), who trailed 36-32 at halftime and could never take control.Michigan State went on a 17-4 run in the second half and led 51-45 before T.J. Williams made a 3-pointer, snapping a string of nine straight missed field goals by Northeastern. The Huskies took the lead back before too long, and with the score 64-61, the 6-foot-8 Murphy made a layup followed by his big 3-pointer from in front of the Northeastern bench, making it an eight-point game with 2:47 remaining.That was when the Northeastern fans started chanting.BIG PICTURENortheastern: The Huskies are certainly a hard team to figure out. Theyve now beaten a couple big-name programs -- although UConn and Michigan State arent exactly at their best right now. Northeastern showed impressive resolve, recovering nicely from a rough stretch in the second half and eventually closing the game out comfortably.ddddddddddddichigan State: The Spartans were without freshman standout Miles Bridges, who missed his fourth straight game with a left ankle injury. Michigan State let this game get away from the 3-point line, where Northeastern went 11 of 23 and the Spartans were only 5 of 16. Michigan State was held to single-digit margins in home wins this month against Oral Roberts and Tennessee Tech, and this time the Spartans were victimized by an upset.PLAYING TIMEMichigan States Eron Harris played only 23 minutes. Coach Tom Izzo was blunt when asked repeatedly about Harris playing time in the postgame news conference.Why are you concerned about Harris? (He was) sitting next to me because he didnt play very good -- period. So I dont know what the deal is, Izzo said. I dont mean to jump you about it, but you want to know why he didnt? He didnt guard, he didnt play very hard, he didnt play very smart, he took a couple bad shots, and he wasnt playing the way he has to play.CLEAVES ON HANDFormer Michigan State star Mateen Cleaves was at the game, less than two weeks after a judge dismissed sex charges against him. Cleaves was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2015, but charges were dismissed Dec. 5.In the Michigan State locker room after the game, Cleaves would not comment on the case.UP NEXTNortheastern: The Huskies have another game in Michigan coming up Tuesday night when they play at Oakland.Michigan State: The Spartans next game is also against Oakland, on Wednesday night in East Lansing. Thats Michigan States last game before starting Big Ten play.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 .---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister China NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Online Stitched Hockey Jerseys Wholesale Baseball Jerseys Football Jerseys Outlet College Jerseys For Sale Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys For Sale Wholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' '