In Detroit, Alex Ovechkin set a new power play record with his 275th carer goal in the Washington Capitals’ 3-1 win over the Red Wings on Friday night.
“It’s a great moment for me, for the team, for the fans and for the game as well,” Ovechkin said. “Now it’s over and we can move on.”
Ilya Samsonov made 19 saves in the Caps win.
“I don’t think we were on point for the first part of the game,” Washington head coach Peter Laviolette said. “It probably took until the second half of the second period for us to get there and start playing a better game.”
Washington improved to 20-6-7.
“That’s why he’s one of the greatest scorers to ever play this game,” the Red Wings’ Marc Staal said. “If you give him an opportunity he’s going to put it in the net.”
After a scoreless first period, Detroit took a 1-0 lead off a goal from Pius Suter.
“It was tough just to get our legs and timing back after going so long without playing a game,” Staal said. “We’ve really only had one practice with the whole team in the last two weeks because of so many guys being in (NHL COVID-19) protocol.”
The Red Wings dropped to 15-14-3.
“I really liked the way we came out, especially after having so much time away,” Detroit head coach Jeff Blashill said. “I didn’t think our forecheck pressure was good enough, but we created chances and we were right there at the end of the game. Unfortunately they made the big plays they needed.”
Evgeny Kuznetsov also scored for the Capitals.
Ovechkin iced the win with a late empty-net strike for Washington.
Thomas Greiss made 24 saves in the Detroit loss.
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