Ovechkin lifts Capitals past Canucks
VANCOUVER — Alex Ovechkin inched his way closer to the top of the history books Saturday with a goal that lifted his Washington Capitals to a 2-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks.
Ovechkin now sits at 841 career goals, 54 behind Wayne Gretzky on the NHL’s all-time goals list.
Tom Wilson also scored for the Capitals (32-25-9), who sit one point out of the final wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference.
Brock Boeser had the lone goal for the Canucks (42-18-8).
Washington goalie Charlie Lindgren stopped 21 of 22 shots and Casey DeSmith made 22 saves for Vancouver.
The Canucks remain atop the Western Conference standings, one point ahead of the Dallas Stars.
Vancouver pulled DeSmith with two minutes left on the game clock but couldn’t beat Lindgren with the extra attacker.
After a listless second period, the home side fought to get back in the game by outshooting the Capitals 11-4 across the third.
Ovechkin gave Washington the lead 7:54 into the second with his 19th marker of the season. After a slow start to the campaign, the legendary Russian winger has 11 goals in his past 20 outings.
DeSmith came out of his crease, anticipating a shot from the slot. Instead, Connor McMichael found an unmarked Ovechkin stationed at the side of the net and Ovechkin poked it in to put the Capitals up 2-1.
Washington had levelled the score a minute and 53 seconds earlier.
Moments after the Canucks were called for icing, the puck went off Wilson’s skate in front of the net and was collected by Ivan Miroshnichenko. He used a backhand pass to feed Wilson at the side of the net and the burly forward tapped it in.
Vancouver got on the board just 1:11 into Saturday’s game when Quinn Hughes launched a rocket from the faceoff circle and Boeser tipped it in through Lindgren’s legs for his team-leading 36th goal of the season.
With an assist on the play, Hughes collected his 77th point (13 goals, 64 assists) of the campaign, setting a new career high. The Canucks captain also broke the franchise record for points for a defenceman that he set last year when he tallied 76. OSHIE OVATION
Capitals right-winger T.J. Oshie played his 1,000th regular-season NHL game. The feat was announced over the loud speaker during the game’s first TV timeout, drawing loud cheers from the crowd as Oshie waved from the bench. The 37-year-old American was picked 24th overall by St. Louis in the 2005 draft, has 301 goals and 388 assists across his career, and helped Washington win its first-ever Stanley Cup in 2018. Oshie is the 390th skater — and the 41st active player — to hit the 1,000-game milestone.
Hurricanes 5, Leafs 4 (SO)
TORONTO — Jake Guentzel wasn’t in an enviable position — especially when still trying to make a good impression with his new teammates.
Having already helped Carolina battle back from 3-0 and 4-2 deficits to force overtime Saturday, the winger found himself seated in the penalty box.
“You don’t feel good,” he said of the slashing call. “You never want to put the team in that spot.”
Guentzel had two nervous minutes to wait. Then he got his chance.
The Hurricanes killed off the infraction before Guentzel scored the only goal of the shootout in a 5-4 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.