NHL

Washington Capitals at Winnipeg Jets

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Final
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Ehlers scores in OT as Jets beat Capitals 3-2 to clinch playoff spot, overcome Ovechkin's 889th goal

Nikolaj Ehlers' goal wins it for the Jets in OT

Josh Morrissey and Mason Appleton also scored for the Jets, who swept the two-game season series with the Capitals — both wins coming in overtime. Connor Hellebuyck finished with 27 saves.

Alex Ovechkin scored his 889th goal to move six away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's NHL record, and Andrew Masngiapane also scored for the Capitals. Logan Thompson had 22 saves.

The Eastern Conference-leading Capitals were in a line change in overtime when Ehlers grabbed the puck and fired a wrist shot past Thompson for his 24th goal of the season.

Ovechkin had tied the game 2-2 with a one-timer that went through Hellebuyck’s pads with four minutes remaining in the third period.

Takeaways Jets: Winnipeg marked its third consecutive season making the playoffs and seventh time in the past eight years. The Jets had to adjust to playing without injured forward Gabriel Vilardi (upper-body injury), who was replaced by Alex Iafallo. The juggling moved Adam Lowry up to the second line to center Ehlers and Appleton.

Capitals: Washington is now 9-1-1 in its last 11 games. The Capitals went into the game defeating 28 of the league’s other 31 teams this season ­— except Winnipeg, Minnesota (which they play Thursday) and Chicago (which visits Washington on April 4).

Key moment Ovechkin’s 36th goal of the season tied the score 2-2 with four minutes left in the third period. It came a minute after Hellebuyck denied Tom Wilson on a one-timer.

Key stat Winnipeg is now 37-0-1 when leading after two periods.

Up next Capitals visit Minnesota on Thursday, and Jets host New Jersey on Friday.

Regular Season Series

WPG wins series 2-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 6:50 Josh Morrissey Goal (12) Slap Shot, assists: Mark Scheifele (43), Dylan DeMelo (15)
Goal 1st Period 19:20 Andrew Mangiapane Goal (14) Wrist Shot, assists: Jakob Chychrun (26)
Goal 2nd Period 19:48 Mason Appleton Goal (9) Wrist Shot, assists: Nino Niederreiter (18), Cole Perfetti (30)
Goal 3rd Period 16:00 Alex Ovechkin Goal (36) Snap Shot, assists: Aliaksei Protas (35), Trevor van Riemsdyk (19)
Goal 4th Period 1:28 Nikolaj Ehlers Goal (24) Wrist Shot, assists: Dylan Samberg (13), Adam Lowry (16)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/wsh.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originWSH https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/wpg.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originWPG
12 Blocked Shots 20
17 Hits 15
7 Takeaways 3
29 Shots 25
0 Power Play Goals 0
2 Power Play Opportunities 2
0.0 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
21 Faceoffs Won 18
53.8 Faceoff Win Percent 46.2
13 Giveaways 11
3 Total Penalties 3
6 Penalty Minutes 6
Winnipeg Jets Winnipeg Jets Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Luke Schenn, D Day-To-Day Apr 3
Rasmus Kupari, C Day-To-Day Apr 2
Gabriel Vilardi, C Out Mar 24
Neal Pionk, D Out Mar 14
Washington Capitals Washington Capitals Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Matt Roy, D Day-To-Day Apr 3
Logan Thompson, G Day-To-Day Apr 2

Game Information

Canada Life Centre

Location: Winnipeg, MB
Attendance: 15,225 | Capacity:

2024-25 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Washington 48 18 105 9
Carolina 46 24 96 4
New Jersey 40 29 87 7
NY Rangers 36 32 79 7
Columbus 34 30 77 9
NY Islanders 32 32 74 10
Pittsburgh 30 34 71 11
Philadelphia 31 36 71 9

2024-25 Central Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Winnipeg 51 20 106 4
Dallas 49 21 102 4
Colorado 46 26 96 4
Minnesota 41 28 89 7
St. Louis 41 28 89 7
Utah 34 29 80 12
Nashville 27 40 62 8
Chicago 21 44 52 10
Full Standings