10:59 PM ET
ESPN News Services
Washington Capitals skipper Alex Ovechkin scored 2 goals successful the archetypal play of Tuesday night's 5-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks, mounting different NHL grounds on the way.
Ovechkin's tallies were the 402nd and 403rd connected the roadworthy successful his 18-year career, passing Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky for the astir connected visiting crystal successful NHL history.
"It's ever bully erstwhile you bushed the Great One,'' Ovechkin said. "It doesn't substance what benignant of milestone it is. It's history.''
It besides marked Ovechkin's 2nd multigoal crippled this play and 160th of his career. Only Gretzky, who retired with 189, has much multigoal games successful NHL history.
Beating Vancouver goaltender Spencer Martin for the archetypal clip successful his career, Ovechkin, 37, opened the scoring with an unassisted extremity astatine 5:35 into the period. It was Ovechkin's 135th game-opening goal, tying Jaromir Jagr for the astir successful NHL history.
He followed that up astatine the 11:52 mark, firing a one-timer from the near ellipse past Martin to springiness the Capitals a 2-0 pb with his 13th extremity of the season. That tally was assisted by forwards Dylan Strome and Anthony Mantha.
"On his 2nd goal, it looks like, 'Oh, possibly [Martin] should person had it.' But I've seen [Ovechkin] people 100 goals similar that,'' said Vancouver manager Bruce Boudreau, who coached the Capitals from 2007 to 2011. "He's got a changeable that finds its mode in."
Washington led 3-1 aft the archetypal period.
"[Ovechkin] was truly bully successful the archetypal and I thought we were truly bully successful the archetypal truthful it was bully to get retired and get a leap similar that,'' Capitals manager Peter Laviolette said. "He surely led. We knew we needed to person a bully archetypal period, person a bully crippled and you request your champion players to bash that.''
Ovechkin astir netted a chapeau instrumentality erstwhile Vancouver pulled Martin for an other skater with conscionable implicit six minutes left, but his rocket of a changeable skimmed the extracurricular of the post. Instead it was Martin Fehervary who sealed it, flipping the puck precocious into the Canucks portion and into the bare nett astatine 15:57 of the 3rd period.
Earlier this month, Ovechkin acceptable the NHL grounds for astir goals scored with 1 franchise, netting his 787th vocation tally with the Capitals, breaking a necktie with Hall of Famer Gordie Howe's vocation full with the Detroit Red Wings. The record-breaking extremity came connected location crystal successful a 3-2 nonaccomplishment to the Arizona Coyotes connected Nov. 5.
"I deliberation helium has 13 goals this twelvemonth and I privation to accidental similar 8 oregon 9 person been similar a caller record. So it's been cool,'' Washington halfway Dylan Strome said. "Any clip you walk Wayne Gretzky successful anything, it deserves a lasting ovation, which helium got.''
The Capitals person struggled this play successful a clogged Eastern Conference, but their woes person not slowed Ovechkin. He is the team's starring scorer with 23 points, and his 20:57 time-on-ice mean was tops among Washington forwards entering Tuesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
English (US)