In Washington, DC, Alex Ovechkin scored the first ans last goals of the night on Friday to pass Gordie Howe for second on the NHL all-time goal scorer list with 8-2 in a 4-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets.
“Very emotional,” Ovechkin said. “My parents watched it from home. My wife is here, kids here, friends. Doing it with the home crowd, it’s special. They give me full support, and this is pretty big.
“It’s a historic moment. It’s nice to be in this category of players. It’s pretty cool.”
After Ovechkin scored in then first period, Sonny Milano struck off the power play in the second period for a 2-0 advantage.
Charlie Lindgren made 25 saves. in the Caps win.
“I think we’re having a lot of fun,” Lindgren said. “Winning is what it’s all about, and when you do that, it makes everything a heck of a lot better. We’re all playing really well, I think, and we’re certainly all bought into the game plan.”
The Caps improved to 19-13-4.
Nic Dowd pushed the lead to 3-1 with a goal at 3:43 of the third.
“Slow start,” Jets coach Rick Bowness said. “Took some penalties in the second period, but when we got going, we had some good looks. “Kid in the net made a lot of big saves for them at the right time, so that’s tough when you give up that first goal.
“But listen, there’s no quit in these guys. They found a way to dig down deep in the third period.”
Winnipeg cut the deficit to two on a goal from Kevin Stenlund.
Ovechkin’s second came on an empty-net strike to made the 4-1 final with less than two minutes left in the third.
The Jets dropped to 21-12-1.
“It’s a 2-0 game in the third; if we make it 2-1 on a couple of good chances, the game probably looks a little different, [but] they get a little space at 3-0,” Winnipeg defenseman Josh Morrissey said. “We battled back hard. Nice goal from ‘Stens’ and that line, but a little too late.”
David Rittich made 23 saves in the Jets loss.
You must be logged in to post a comment.