NHL

Montreal Canadiens at Washington Capitals

· National Hockey League

Ovechkin scores his 858th goal and has 2 assists as the Capitals beat the Canadiens 6-3

Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals: Game Highlights

Ovechkin is now 37 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's record. After making Cayden Primeau the 176th different goaltender he has scored on, Ovechkin is on pace for 45 this season, which would put him at 895 and perhaps beyond this spring.

Before scoring with 7:33 left in the third period, Ovechkin set up goals by Tom Wilson and Aliaksei Protas. Wilson ended an 0-for-22 power-play drought with his team-leading sixth goal of the season.

Brandon Duhaime and Jakub Vrana scored less than a minute apart, and new dad Connor McMichael also had a goal for the Capitals, who improved to 7-2-0. They last won seven of their first nine games in 2015-16.

Montreal's Cole Caufield scored his 10th to tie New Jersey captain Nico Hischier for the league lead. Brendan Gallagher and Nick Suzuki had the other goals for the Canadiens, and Primeau stopped 28 shots.

Takeaways Canadiens: After coach Martin St-Louis mixed up his lines following an 8-2 home loss to Seattle, this was a better effort. It also helped to get defensemen Kaiden Guhle and Justin Barrow back from injury.

Capitals: The sample size is no longer too small. It's OK to think the Caps are a playoff contender after several offseason additions.

Key moment Charlie Lindgren made the biggest of his 13 saves denying Caufield on a lengthy penalty kill in the third, which came after Washington went up 5-3.

Key stat The Capitals have scored three or more goals in eight of their nine games.

Up Next The Capitals host Columbus on Saturday, and the Canadiens visit Pittsburgh.

Regular Season Series

WSH leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 2nd Period 3:21 Tom Wilson Goal (6) Tip-In, assists: Alex Ovechkin (4), John Carlson (6)
Goal 2nd Period 9:52 Cole Caufield Goal (10) Wrist Shot, assists: Nick Suzuki (9)
Goal 2nd Period 10:31 Brendan Gallagher Goal (4) Tip-In, assists: Lane Hutson (6), Christian Dvorak (3)
Goal 2nd Period 11:45 Brandon Duhaime Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Taylor Raddysh (2), Trevor van Riemsdyk (5)
Goal 2nd Period 12:39 Jakub Vrana Goal (2) Snap Shot, assists: none
Goal 2nd Period 18:00 Nick Suzuki Goal (4) Slap Shot, assists: David Savard (4), Lane Hutson (7)
Goal 3rd Period 4:21 Connor McMichael Goal (5) Backhand, assists: Trevor van Riemsdyk (6), Tom Wilson (2)
Goal 3rd Period 4:57 Aliaksei Protas Goal (3) Backhand, assists: Alex Ovechkin (5), Dylan Strome (9)
Goal 3rd Period 12:27 Alex Ovechkin Goal (5) Snap Shot, assists: Aliaksei Protas (6), Dylan Strome (10)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/mtl.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originMTL https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/wsh.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originWSH
24 Blocked Shots 22
23 Hits 22
3 Takeaways 3
15 Shots 34
1 Power Play Goals 1
6 Power Play Opportunities 5
16.7 Power Play Percentage 20.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
36 Faceoffs Won 23
61.0 Faceoff Win Percent 39.0
24 Giveaways 14
6 Total Penalties 7
15 Penalty Minutes 17

Game Information

Capital One Arena

Location: Washington, DC
Attendance: 15,789 | Capacity:

2024-25 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Toronto 12 6 26 2
Florida 12 7 25 1
Tampa Bay 10 6 22 2
Buffalo 10 9 21 1
Boston 9 9 21 3
Detroit 8 9 18 2
Ottawa 8 10 17 1
Montreal 7 10 16 2

2024-25 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Carolina 14 5 28 0
New Jersey 13 7 28 2
Washington 13 5 27 1
NY Rangers 12 5 25 1
NY Islanders 7 8 19 5
Columbus 8 9 18 2
Philadelphia 8 10 18 2
Pittsburgh 7 11 18 4
Full Standings