WASHINGTON — T.J. Oshie got to hear his goal song, ‘’Take Me Home, Country Roads,’’ three times as he fittingly recorded a hat trick on the Washington Capitals’ country music night.
Some of those chapeaus that ended up on the ice in celebration were actually cowboy hats, too.
''It's crazy how that worked out," he said.
Crazy how hot Oshie has gotten lately, too, and just in time to pace an offensive outburst. The Capitals beat the St. Louis Blues 5-2 on Thursday night for a second consecutive victory, scoring more than four in a game for just the second time this season.
''Yeah, finally," captain Alex Ovechkin said. ''It's way more fun to play that way.''
Oshie, who played his first seven NHL seasons with the Blues before being traded to Washington in 2015, has been on a roll since returning from injury Jan. 11. After scoring twice on the power play and adding an empty-netter with 19.5 seconds left, he has five goals in his past four games after scoring just two in his first 21 this season.
''Even at this point in my career, to get that recognition is super cool,'' Oshie said after his sixth career hat trick and first since Oct. 25, 2021. ''The fans here really my whole career here, St. Louis, college and Warroad (Minnesota) before that have always been so generous and so supportive of me, so I appreciate them losing a couple bucks and throwing some hats out there.''
Dylan Strome also scored his team-leading 16th goal of the season and had an assist. Max Pacioretty assisted on Oshie's first two goals to give him his first multipoint game since making his Capitals debut Jan. 3.