Ovechkin scores goal 718, Caps beat Islanders
WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin scored his 718th career goal to pass Phil Esposito for sole possession of sixth on the NHL’S career list and became the second active player to record 1,300 points, helping the Washington Capitals beat the New York Islanders 3-1 Tuesday night.
Washington snapped New York’s winning streak at nine and point streak at 12. The Capitals have won six in a row and 10 of their past 11 to move ahead of the Islanders into first place in the East Division.
Ovechkin is a big reason for that.
The longtime captain has goals in four consecutive games and five of six and is tied with longtime running mate Nicklas Backstrom, who also scored, for the team lead with 12 this season.
T.J. Oshie scored the other goal for the Caps.
Ovechkin is 13 goals shy of tying Marcel Dionne for fifth and needs 177 more to break Wayne Gretzky’s record.
Goal No. 718 was classic Ovechkin: a one-timer on the power play from his favorite spot just inside the left faceoff circle. It came against former Capitals teammate and countryman Semyon Varlamov.
■ Devils 3, Sabres 2: At Newark, N.J., Miles Wood scored the tiebreaking goal on a power play early in the third period as New Jersey ended an 11-game losing streak (0-10-1) on home ice.
■ Bruins 2, Penguins 1: At Pittsburgh, Trent Frederic scored the lone goal of the third period beating goaltender Casey Desmith with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle through traffic.
■ Red Wings 4, Hurricanes 2: At Detroit, Adam Erne scored twice to back Jonathan Bernier, who stopped 35 shots.
■ Wild 3, Coyotes 0: At St. Paul, Minn., Ryan Hartman, Mats Zuccarello and Jared Spurgeon scored to back rookie Kaapo Kahkonen, who made 31 saves in his second shutout of the season.
■ Lightning 4, Stars 3 SO: At Dallas, Brayden Point had a goal, an assist and the shootout winner to back Andrei Vasilevskiy, who stopped 24 shots in his ninth straight victory.
■ Avalanche 8, Ducks 4: At Denver, Nazem Kadri had two goals and two assists for Colorado. Philipp Grubauer stopped 15 shots after replacing Hunter Miska, who allowed four goals on seven shots.