Ovechkin sets points record at expense of Canucks
WASHINGTON — T.J. Oshie put in the work to help Alex Ovechkin set another record and get the defending Stanley Cup champions back on track.
Oshie scored his 16th goal of the season as part of a dominant performance, Braden Holtby made 30 saves and stopped a penalty shot and the Washington Capitals beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 Tuesday night in Jay Beagle’s return to his old home arena.
With an assist on Oshie’s goal, Ovechkin picked up his 1,180th career point to become the NHL’s all-time scoring leader among Russian players.
The milestone wouldn’t have happened so soon without Oshie, who rebounded from an ill-timed penalty late in a loss to Boston on Sunday to be at his best against the Canucks. He hounded Chris Tanev to force the turnover that led to his goal, flipped the puck over defenders for a scoring chance in the first and created another one in the second.
“Personally I’ve felt good here for the last couple weeks,” Oshie said. “Tonight was just kind of another one of those games the puck was kind of finding me. Would’ve liked to score more than one, but I had some fun out there.”
Holtby made 13 saves and denied Bo Horvat on a penalty shot in a busy second period to help the struggling Capitals pick up two important points. Holtby was run over by Horvat prior to Elias Pettersson’s goal with 7.6 seconds remaining and was attended to by a team athletic trainer before finishing the game.
Ovechkin is ready to move forward after setting another record by passing former teammate Sergei Fedorov for the Russian scoring lead. He did it in 193 fewer games than Fedorov, who Ovechkin played with in 2008 and 2009 and considers a friend.
“I talked to him and said it’s a huge honour,” Ovechkin said. “We have a very good relationship and I’m pretty sure he’s pretty happy for me that I beat him.”
Brett Connolly and Jakub Vrana scored third-period goals for the Caps, who had lost eight of their previous nine games. Vrana’s goal with 7:47 left had to be reviewed to make sure Evgeny Kuznetsov didn’t bat it in with a high stick.
Markus Granlund also scored for the Canucks, who lost for the second consecutive night and have dropped three of four. Forced to start each side of this back-to-back because of an injury to rookie Thatcher Demko, Jacob Markstrom made 17 of his 28 saves in the first period to keep the Canucks in it.
“Most of the game I thought we played good,” Markstrom said. “Same in Philly (Monday). Come February, come March and April we need points and we need them bad. It’s tough when there’s a lot of teams chasing you and our chasing a lot of teams.”
The game was Beagle’s first time facing his former teammates after playing parts of 10 seasons with the Capitals and helping them win the Stanley Cup last year. Beagle, who signed a $12 million, fouryear contract with Vancouver, got a standing ovation from the crowd during a video tribute in the first period and a hug from Ovechkin after it was over.
Edler has concussion
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vancouver Canucks defenceman Alexander Edler avoided long-term injury from hitting his head on the ice but will be out at least a week with a concussion.
Coach Travis Green said Tuesday that X-rays revealed no facial fractures. Edler was released from hospital and headed back to Vancouver. He will miss at least three games, but the Canucks are glad it wasn’t worse.
“Obviously a scary incident,” Green said. “Medical staff I thought did a great job getting out there as quick as they did, and we’re thankful that he’s going to be all right.”
Edler’s skate got caught in the stick of Flyers winger Jakub Voracek in the first period Monday night, causing him to lose his balance and slam into the ice. Edler lay motionless on the ice before being wheeled off on a stretcher.