Ovechkin ends drought; Caps snap skid, top Wild
Alex Ovechkin broke out of his career-worst goal drought just as former coach Bruce Boudreau feared.
Ovechkin scored for the first time in 10 games as the Washington Capitals beat Boudreau’s Minnesota Wild 4-2 Tuesday night to snap a season-worst four-game losing streak.
Ovechkin’s 28th of the season was his first since Feb. 19 and also ended an 18-game drought without an even-strength goal.
Boudreau on Monday predicted that Ovechkin is “going to get out of it one day” and hoped it wasn’t at his new team’s expense.
He knew what was coming because Ovechkin scored 197 regular-season and 25 playoff goals — 37 percent of his NHL totals — with him behind the bench.
“You make a mistake against Alex, you’re going pay for it,” Boudreau said.
It was a flubbed shot that center Nicklas Backstrom called a “muffin,” but the Russian superstar’s 553rd goal helped end Washington’s worst skid since November 2015 and sent the Wild to their fifth loss in seven games.
“We’re in position where we were losing four in a row and I kind of don’t feel like you have to worry about your personal stats,” Ovechkin said. “It was not a perfect shot, but sometimes I have pretty good opportunities before and it didn’t go in. It’s (going to) turn around very quickly if I’m gonna to get that kind of goal.”
Nate Schmidt, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Jay Beagle also scored for the NHL-leading Capitals, who recaptured sole possession of first in the Metropolitan Division and moved two points up on the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Backstrom had three assists and goaltender Braden Holtby stopped 32 of the 34 shots he faced as Washington won for the first time since March 4.
Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists and Corey Crawford made 40 saves and the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Montreal Canadiens. Johnny Oduya, Artemi Panarin and Jonathan Toews, into the empty net, scored for the Blackhawks, who jumped past Minnesota and lead the Central Division with 93 points.
John Tavares scored 34 seconds into overtime, and the New York Islanders beat the Carolina Hurricanes. Joshua Ho-Sang and Jason Chimera scored in the final 65 seconds of the second period to help the Islanders erase a 2-0 deficit and eventually claim what interim coach Doug Weight called a must-win game.
Jonathan Marchessault scored two goals, Thomas Vanek had a career-high four assists and the Florida Panthers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs to stop a five-game losing streak
Victor Hedman scored with 55 seconds on the clock in overtime and the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Ottawa Senators for their fourth straight victory.
Patrick Maroon had a goal and an assist and the Edmonton Oilers snapped a threegame skid with a victory over the Dallas Stars.