BOSTON — Alex Ovechkin scored his 891st occupation objective, transferring him 4 clear of passing Wayne Gretzky’s NHL file, and Dylan Strome broke a third-period tie Tuesday evening to guide the Washington Capitals to a 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins.
Ovechkin gave the Capitals a 2-0 lead with about 4 mins left within the first era, pushing a cross-crease move from Strome into an open web. He has 12 targets in his previous 18 video games and 8 video games ultimate this season to catch Gretzky.
The 39-year-old Russian, who additionally shot huge on an empty web within the ultimate mins, will proceed his pursuit Wednesday evening in opposition to the Carolina Hurricanes.
“It is getting shut,” Capitals trainer Spencer Carbery mentioned. “You’ll really feel it. You’ll indubitably really feel it.”
Ovechkin entered the season 42 targets wanting breaking the regular-season file through The Nice Person who had lengthy appeared unapproachable. Now in his twentieth NHL season, Ovechkin was once on tempo to get to 895 in February sooner than breaking his left leg in a shin-on-shin collision in November. He sat out 16 video games however resumed his pursuit at Toronto within the Capitals’ first sport after the Christmas damage.
“I’m going again to when he was once injured and out for some time. When that took place, everybody was once roughly considering to themselves whether or not or now not it was once going to be conceivable,” goaltender Charlie Lindgren mentioned. “However anything else’s conceivable with Alex Ovechkin. Now we have observed that this a ways. Now we have were given 8 video games to head, and the most efficient factor about it’s it does not really feel like there is any power in any respect. And the workforce’s taking part in it.”
Previous this season, the Washington captain turned into the sixtieth participant to file 700 occupation assists. He joined Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Jaromir Jagr, Marcel Dionne and Phil Esposito as the one gamers with 700 targets and 700 assists, one in all a number of milestones in his occupation.
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On Tuesday, the membership padded its lead within the Japanese Convention standings, as Nic Dowd and Tom Wilson additionally scored for Washington. Lindgren made 21 saves to lend a hand the first-place Capitals finish a three-game dropping streak.
“I believed we had a tight first [period], and it were given clear of us in the second one,” Strome mentioned at the Capitals’ postgame display at the Huge Sports activities Community. “They clearly took it to us. We were given a 2-0 lead, and perhaps concept it was once going to be simple. However they are a just right workforce, and we needed to be able to fight again within the 1/3 and get some well timed targets.”
Ovechkin is averaging rather less than two targets each and every 3 video games. At that tempo, he would move Gretzky within the penultimate sport of the season, on the New York Islanders on April 15.
David Pastrnak had two targets, Vinni Lettieri scored one and Jeremy Swayman stopped 27 photographs for Boston, which misplaced its 9th in a row.
The Bruins got here again in the second one, getting a objective from Lettieri six mins into the second one after which the tying ranking through Pastrnak with 3 mins left within the era. However Strome gave Washington the lead halfway in the course of the 1/3, grabbing a rebound off the again wall and slipping it previous Swayman.
The Related Press contributed to this document.
