Ovechkin nets No. 699, but struggling Caps lose
All eyes were on Alex Ovechkin needing two goals to reach 700 in his career. The other No. 8 on the ice scored twice instead.
Ovechkin scored his 699th goal to close in on another milestone, but the Washington Capitals dropped their third in a row, losing 4-3 in overtime to the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.
After Ovechkin was thwarted on a 1-on-1 opportunity early in OT, Montreal’s No. 8 Ben Chiarot scored his second of the game seconds later to end it.
“He’s the most dangerous shooter in the league,” Chiarot said of Ovechkin. “If you’re not paying attention to what he’s doing out there, then it’s going to hurt you eventually. We’re always aware when he’s out there. That’s the thing is you pay a little closer attention to him when he’s on the ice.”
Ovechkin was on the ice for more than 22 minutes and put six shots on net. He beat Carey Price off a faceoff win by longtime running mate Nicklas Backstrom 7:29 into the game and had another quality chance on a bang- bang play in the third period.
But the Russian superstar will have to wait to become the eighth player in NHL history to get to 700.
Washington has lost five of its past six games and seven of 10, falling out of first place in the Metropolitan Division.
“There’s no perfect formula to playing 60 minutes,” said winger Tom Wilson, who scored with 20.1 seconds left in regulation to tie it and help the Capitals get a point. “We just need a buy-in from kind of every guy. If everyone’s giving it their all, I think we’re a pretty tough team to beat.”
Goaltender Braden Holtby allowed goals to Shea Weber, Brendan Gallagher and two to Chiarot on 32 shots, but he wasn’t chiefly responsible for the loss. The same defensive woes that plagued the Capitals over the past several weeks came back to haunt them against Montreal. FLYERS 4, BLUE JACKETS 3, OT » Kevin Hayes scored 3:51 into overtime, and Philadelphia swept the home-and-home series between Metropolitan Division contenders. BLUES 1, COYOTES 0 » Ryan O’Reilly scored the only goal of the game, and Jordan Binnington made 14 saves for his second consecutive shutout to lead St. Louis. MAPLE LEAFS 4. PENGUINS 0 » Jake Muzzin had a goal and two assists, Frederik Andersen made 24 saves, and Toronto dealt Pittsburgh its most lopsided loss of the season. JETS 5, SENATORS 1 » Mark Scheifele snapped a 12game scoring drought with three power- play goals, helping Winnipeg move into the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference.