NHL

Washington Capitals at Boston Bruins

· National Hockey League
Final
4 - 3

Ovechkin scores, needs 4 more to pass Gretzky for NHL record, and Capitals beat Bruins 4-3

Ovechkin scores 891st goal, 4 away from breaking record

Nic Dowd and Tom Wilson also scored for Washington. Charlie Lindgren made 21 saves to help the Eastern Conference-leading Capitals snap a a three-game losing streak.

David Pastrnak had two goals, Vinni Lettieri scored one and Jeremy Swayman stopped 27 shots for Boston, which lost its ninth in a row.

Ovechkin gave the Capitals a 2-0 lead with about four minutes left in the first period, pushing a cross-crease pass from Strome into an open net. He has 12 goals in his last 18 games and eight games remaining this season to catch Gretzky.

The 39-year-old Russian also shot wide on an empty net in the final minutes.

The Bruins came back in the second, getting a goal from Lettieri six minutes into the second and then the tying score by Pastrnak with three minutes left in the period. But Strome gave Washington the lead midway through the third, grabbing a rebound off the back wall and slipping it past Swayman.

Takeaways Capitals: Ovechkin is averaging a little less than two goals every three games. At that pace, he would pass Gretzky in the penultimate game of the season, at the New York Islanders on April 15.

Bruins: The fans got what they wanted from their draft lottery-bound team: A goal from Ovechkin and a competitive game.

Key moment With five minutes left in the second period, Boston's Jeffrey Viel and Washington's Dylan McIlrath squared off for a fight that seemed like it might be the highlight of the night for those fans actually rooting for the Bruins.

Two minutes later, Pastrnak redirected a slap pass from Morgan Geekie into the net to tie it 2-all.

Key stat Capitals forward and Massachusetts native Ryan Leonard played his first NHL game. The Hobey Baker Award finalist had back-to-back 30-goal seasons at Boston College, which was eliminated from the NCAA hockey tournament on Sunday night.

Up Next The Capitals are in Carolina to play the Hurricanes on Wednesday night and the Bruins visit the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

Regular Season Series

WSH wins series 2-1

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 13:32 Nic Dowd Goal (13) Wrist Shot, assists: Brandon Duhaime (11)
Goal 1st Period 15:43 Alex Ovechkin Goal (38) Wrist Shot, assists: Dylan Strome (48), John Carlson (42)
Goal 2nd Period 6:05 Vinni Lettieri Goal (3) Wrist Shot, assists: Marat Khusnutdinov (6)
Goal 2nd Period 17:12 David Pastrnak Goal (36) Tip-In, assists: Morgan Geekie (16), Mason Lohrei (26)
Goal 3rd Period 10:37 Dylan Strome Goal (24) Snap Shot, assists: Aliaksei Protas (36), Martin Fehérváry (20)
Goal 3rd Period 14:46 Tom Wilson Goal (32) Deflected, assists: Pierre-Luc Dubois (44), Alex Ovechkin (27)
Goal 3rd Period 15:13 David Pastrnak Goal (37) Wrist Shot, assists: Morgan Geekie (17), Pavel Zacha (31)

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/bos.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originBOS
15 Blocked Shots 13
17 Hits 20
1 Takeaways 8
32 Shots 24
1 Power Play Goals 1
2 Power Play Opportunities 3
50.0 Power Play Percentage 33.3
1 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
29 Faceoffs Won 32
47.5 Faceoff Win Percent 52.5
13 Giveaways 12
4 Total Penalties 3
11 Penalty Minutes 9
Boston Bruins Boston Bruins Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Mark Kastelic, C Out Apr 1
Charlie McAvoy, D Injured Reserve Mar 31
Washington Capitals Washington Capitals Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Logan Thompson, G Day-To-Day Apr 2
Matt Roy, D Out Apr 1

Game Information

TD Garden

Location: Boston, MA
Attendance: 17,850 | 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 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Toronto 46 25 96 4
Tampa Bay 44 25 93 5
Florida 44 27 92 4
Ottawa 39 29 84 6
Montreal 35 30 79 9
Detroit 34 33 75 7
Buffalo 32 36 70 6
Boston 30 36 69 9
Full Standings