As the games go on, Alexander Ovechkin gets closer to the undisputed NHL goalscoring record, held by Wayne Gretzky. With a two-goal performance Wednesday night in a 4-1 Capitals victory, Ovechkin hit 795 goals to come within 99 goals of the legendary No. 99’s record of 894.
By the same token, Ovechkin is only six goals from second place in history, held by Gordie Howe and his 801 goals.
Against the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday, Ovechkin hit the target twice in empty nets within 1:26 to put the game out of reach. Philly. It’s the 161st time in his career that Ovechkin has scored at least two goals in a match.
The Flyers were the first to sign up to the brand. With less than five minutes to play in the first period, Kevin Hayes took advantage of the power play to hit the target with a precise shot and open the scoring.
Washington offered the reply quickly in the middle period. Also on the power play, TJ Oshie scored with a good one-timer to tie everyone up.
Dylan Strome then broke the tie midway through the third period by deflecting a John Carlson shot. Ovechkin added two goals from gaping goals to complete the scoring.
Strome, Ovechkin, Carlson and Evgeny Kuznetsov all finished the game with two points.
Former Montreal Canadiens Charlie Lindgren made 29 saves for the win for the Capitals. His vis-à-vis Carter Hart yielded twice on 25 shots in the loss.
The Capitals sign a second consecutive victory, while the Flyers bow for the third time in their last four games. Washington can extend its winning streak on Friday against the Kraken.
Team records for Kaprizov
Kirill Kaprizov extended his streak of consecutive games with at least one goal and one point to set a team mark in a 5-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild at the Calgary Flames.
The striker saw his stick break when he redirected a shot from the point by Matt Dumba in the second minute of play to score a goal in the seventh game in a row. He thus recorded a point in a 13e back-to-back meeting, two Wild records.
Only 58 seconds after 17e Kaprizov’s net of the season, teammate Mason Shaw gave his team a two-goal lead.
The Flames, however, rebounded in the middle period with three goals, including those of Nazem Kadri and Tyler Toffoli on the power play. Jon Merrill tied the game with less than five minutes left in the third period, but just 12 seconds later Rasmus Andersson got the better of Marc-André Fleury to put the Flames in charge.
Dan Vladar held on for the rest of the game and finished his night with 25 saves. Fleury, for his part, yielded four times on 26 shots. Toffoli completed the scoring in an empty net for his 10e goal of the season.
Bruins take advantage of a battered Avalanche
Taylor Hall had three points and the Boston Bruins posted an easy 4-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche. Boston signs a fourth victory in its last five games, while Colorado suffers a third straight loss.
Hall hit the target twice and added an assist. It’s his second three-point game this season.
Colorado was without the services of Nathan MacKinnon, in addition to the absences of Valeri Nichushkin, Gabriel Landeskog, Artturi Lehkonen, Evan Rodrigues, Josh Manson and Bowen Byram. The Avalanche also offered a scare in the first period, while Mikko Rantanen had to retreat to the locker room for a while.
With one goal, forward David Pastrnak became the first Bruins player to score 50 goals in a calendar year since Cam Neely scored 52 goals in 1989.
Pastrnak was also the first to register for the score. In the first minutes of the second period, Pasta hit the target for the 18th time this season to open the scoring.
Then halfway through the game, Hall doubled the Bruins lead with his first goal of the game.
Hall then assisted on a goal by Trent Frederic in the third period, before completing the scoring with his second goal of the game.
With a perfect 23-save performance, goaltender Linus Ullmark recorded a 15th win this season and a second shutout. At the other end of the ice, Alexandar Georgiev stopped 33 of 37 shots he faced.
Boston will be back in action on Friday against the Coyotes, while the Avalanche will look to get back to winning ways on Friday against the Blues.
Rangers winning push
The New York Rangers capitalized on an offensive surge in the third period to triumph 5-1 over the Vegas Golden Knights.
New York scored three goals in 1:53 in the third period to take off and wave to a second straight victory. Quebec’s Alexis Lafrenière contributed to the success by hitting the target in a second game in a row.
Rangers were the first to get on the mark in the first half. Kaapo Kakko deftly redirected a K’Andre Miller shot to open the scoring with his fifth goal of the season.
The Golden Knights then offered the cue midway through the second period. Quebecer Jonathan Marchessault took advantage of a power play to rattle the ropes and tie the game with his 11e countryside fillet.
The third period was to the advantage of the Rangers, who exploded offensively. Mika Zibanejad first restored the lead to New York on the power play, before seeing Filip Chytil double the lead 24 seconds later.
Lafrenière then put his shoulder to the wheel moments later with his fifth goal of the season to increase Rangers’ lead to three goals, before seeing Zibanejad charge back with another power play goal to make it 5 -1.
Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin each had three points in the game.
Artemi Panarin has reached 600 career points in the NHL. He reached this plateau in his 535th game. Only Connor McDavid (421), Sidney Crosby (430), Alex Ovechkin (464) and Evgeni Malkin (490) did it faster among active players.
Igor Shesterkin stopped 25 of 26 shots aimed at him, while his vis-à-vis Logan Thompson yielded five times on 37 shots.
Pettersson plays trick on Sharks
Elias Pettersson has taken a liking to playing heroes. After scoring the game-winning goal in overtime against the Canadiens on Monday, Pettersson came back and played the same trick on the San Jose Sharks.
With 35 seconds left in overtime, Pettersson fired a good wrist shot that found the back of the net to give the Vancouver Canucks a 6-5 win.
Andrei Kuzmenko had previously tied the game with less than four minutes left in the third period to send everyone into overtime.
Dakota Joshua scored twice for the Canucks, while Nils Hoglander and Ilya Mikheyev also scored.
In the Sharks camp, Nick Bonino opened the scoring after just 18 seconds in the first period. Timo Meier, Logan Couture, Jonah Gadjovich and Kevin Labanc also hit the target.
Canucks goaltender Spencer Martin had a busy night with 34 saves. In front of the Sharks cage, Kaapo Kahkonen and Eetu Makiniemi shared the workload. They made 15 and seven saves respectively.
Vancouver has won its last three games, while San Jose loses in a fourth straight game.
