New York Rangers at Washington Capitals
· National Hockey LeagueAlex Ovechkin scores twice as the Capitals beat the Rangers 5-3
Ovechkin moved 38 away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's NHL career goals record, scoring two of the seven in the game's first 25 minutes. A furious start also included Matt Rempe fighting Dylan McIlrath in his return to the Rangers lineup, electrifying the sellout crowd mixed between home red and visiting blue.
Capitals fans went home happy as their team continued a strong start thanks to Connor McMichael's fourth goal of the season and the second by Aliaksei Protas, who had a pair of assists for a three-point night. Logan Thompson made 16 saves and Nic Dowd sealed it with an empty-netter with 35.8 seconds left.
Despite allowing four goals, Igor Shesterkin was arguably the best player on the ice in stopping 41 of the 45 shots he faced. New York got goals from Will Cuylle 58 seconds after Ovechkin's first, Chris Kreider on the power play and Filip Chytil on a deflection but could not give Shesterkin enough support.
Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun left early with what the team called an upper-body injury.
Capitals: Ovechkin isn't slowing down at age 39 and is now on pace to tie Gretzky by the end of the season.
This story has been corrected to show that Ovechkin scored his 856th and 857th, not 855th and 856th, goals of his career on Tuesday.
Regular Season SeriesWSH leads series 1-0
Scoring Summary
Goal | 1st Period 3:23 | Alex Ovechkin Goal (3) Wrist Shot, assists: Dylan Strome (7), Aliaksei Protas (4) | |
Goal | 1st Period 4:21 | Will Cuylle Goal (3) Wrist Shot, assists: Kaapo Kakko (6) | |
Goal | 1st Period 5:10 | Alex Ovechkin Goal (4) Snap Shot, assists: Aliaksei Protas (5), Dylan Strome (8) | |
Goal | 1st Period 8:58 | Connor McMichael Goal (4) Tip-In, assists: Taylor Raddysh (1), Rasmus Sandin (3) | |
Goal | 2nd Period 0:30 | Chris Kreider Goal (6) Deflected, assists: Mika Zibanejad (5), Vincent Trocheck (6) | |
Goal | 2nd Period 4:30 | Aliaksei Protas Goal (2) Tip-In, assists: Rasmus Sandin (4), Trevor van Riemsdyk (4) | |
Goal | 2nd Period 4:44 | Filip Chytil Goal (4) Tip-In, assists: Victor Mancini (3), Braden Schneider (2) | |
Goal | 3rd Period 19:24 | Nic Dowd Goal (3) Snap Shot, assists: John Carlson (5) |
Statistics
NYR | WSH | |
---|---|---|
13 | Blocked Shots | 10 |
22 | Hits | 17 |
4 | Takeaways | 3 |
19 | Shots | 46 |
1 | Power Play Goals | 0 |
3 | Power Play Opportunities | 4 |
33.3 | Power Play Percentage | 0.0 |
0 | Short Handed Goals | 0 |
0 | Shootout Goals | 0 |
21 | Faceoffs Won | 34 |
38.2 | Faceoff Win Percent | 61.8 |
20 | Giveaways | 10 |
5 | Total Penalties | 4 |
13 | Penalty Minutes | 11 |
Game Information
Location: Washington, DC
Attendance: 17,390 | Capacity:
Location: Washington, DC
Attendance: 17,390 | Capacity:
2024-25 Metropolitan Division Standings
TEAM | W | L | PTS | OTL |
---|---|---|---|---|
New Jersey | 11 | 6 | 24 | 2 |
Carolina | 11 | 4 | 22 | 0 |
Washington | 10 | 4 | 21 | 1 |
NY Rangers | 9 | 4 | 19 | 1 |
NY Islanders | 6 | 6 | 16 | 4 |
Pittsburgh | 6 | 9 | 15 | 3 |
Philadelphia | 6 | 8 | 14 | 2 |
Columbus | 5 | 8 | 12 | 2 |