Ovechkin nets 750th career goal, Caps beat Blue Jackets 3-1
Sat, Dec 4, 2021
NHL News (AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Alex Ovechkin scored his 20th goal of the season and the 750th of his NHL career to help the Washington Capitals beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 Saturday night and snap a two-game skid.
Ovechkin became the second-fastest player to reach the 750-goal mark, doing so in his 1,222nd regular-season game. Wayne Gretzky, whose record of 894 Ovechkin is chasing, got to 750 in 1,001 games.
Ovechkin joined Marcel Dionne, Jaromir Jagr and Mats Sundin as the only players to score 20 or more goals in each of his first 17 seasons in the NHL.
After ending a two-game goal drought, Ovechkin now trails Jagr by 16 goals for third on the career list.
Rookie Aliaksei Protas scored his second career goal by following his own rebound in the first. Garnet Hathaway sealed it with an empty-netter with 1:27 remaining in regulation.
Eric Robinson scored the only goal of the night for the the Blue Jackets, who lost their fourth in a row in regulation. They have been outscored 18-6 during this losing streak.
LIGHTNING 3, BRUINS 2, OT
BOSTON (AP) - Steven Stamkos scored at 1:31 of overtime, and Tampa Bay bounced back after blowing a two-goal lead.
Taylor Raddysh had his first career goal, a short-handed score in the first period, and Ondrej Palat also scored for the defending Stanley Cup champions. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 37 shots, and Stamkos recorded a point for the sixth straight game.
Charlie Coyle and Curtis Lazar scored after the Bruins fell behind 2-0 early in the second period. Jeremy Swayman made 22 saves for the Bruins, who outshot the Lightning 39-25.
RED WINGS 4, ISLANDERS 3, OT
DETROIT (AP) - Moritz Seider scored 3:33 into overtime and Detroit handed New York its 10th straight loss.
Filip Hronek, Sam Gagner and Givani Smith also scored for the Red Wings, who won their season-high fifth straight. Alex Nedeljkovic had 20 saves.
Oliver Wahlstrom had two power-play goals, Cal Clutterbuck scored short-handed, and Mathew Barzal had two assists as the Islanders earned a point for the second straight game and fell to 0-8-2 during their skid. Ilya Sorokin finished with 26 saves.
In the extra period, Seider scored on a one-timer from the left circle off a pass from Pius Suter.
PREDATORS 4, CANADIENS 3, OT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Filip Forsberg scored with 11.1 seconds remaining in overtime, giving Nashville a victory over Montreal.
Eeli Tolvanen, Tanner Jeannot and Luke Kunin also scored, and Juuse Saros made 20 saves for Nashville, which has won two of its last three games.
Jake Allen made 40 saves and Nick Suzuki, Christian Dvorak and Brett Kulak scored for Montreal. Cole Caufield had a pair of assists for the Canadiens, who have lost five of six.
On the winner, Forsberg took a cross-ice pass from Mikael Granlund and sent it past Allen.
PANTHERS 4, BLUES 3, SO
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) - Sam Reinhart and Anton Lundell scored in the shootout, and Florida rallied from three one-goal deficits to beat St. Louis.
Maxim Mamin scored two goals and Reinhart added a goal for Florida. Lucas Carlsson and Anton Lundell each had two assists and Sergei Bobrovsky made 22 saves for the Panthers - plus stopped Ryan O'Reilly to end the shootout.
Ville Husso made a career-best 48 saves for the Blues, who got goals from Brandon Saad, Logan Brown and Jake Walman. O'Reilly had two assists for St. Louis.
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