Alex Ovechkin has etched his name into the record book, becoming the first player since the NHL's inaugural season to open a season with consecutive hat tricks.

Ovechkin scored his fourth, fifth and sixth goals of the season in the first period of the Capitals' home opener against the Canadiens. He scored his first three goals of the season in the Capitals' season opener in Ottawa on Thursday night.

Oilers center Connor McDavid has said it time and again since winning the Hart Trophy last season: "One season doesn't make a career."

Nobody in hockey thinks McDavid is going to be a one-hit wonder. The expectation instead is that McDavid, the only NHL player to put up 100 points last season, is a 20-year-old embarking on a Hockey Hall of Fame career.

More immediately, the panel of NHL.com voters tasked with making preseason trophy predictions thinks McDavid will be a two-time Hart Trophy winner three seasons into his NHL career.

McDavid received 11 first-place votes and was one of two players named on all 17 ballots submitted. The other player to be named on all 17 ballots was Penguins center Sidney Crosby, who received four first-place votes.