CALGARY — Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe. Those are now the only two names ahead of Alex Ovechkin on the NHL's all-time goals list.
Ovechkin moved into a tie for third with Jaromir Jagr on Tuesday, scoring twice as the Washington Capitals came from behind in the third period for a 5-4 win over the Calgary Flames.
Ovechkin's 35th and 36th goals of the season, No. 765 and 766 of his career, moves him to within 35 of Howe. Gretzky leads with 894.
“Obviously, it’s always nice to hear those kind of milestones, numbers,” said Ovechkin, who has goals in three straight games. “It’s pretty big, obviously, and how I always said, being with those names and in this company, it’s a pretty cool moment.”
The 36-year-old's second goal, which came into an empty net at 18:12 to make it 5-3, ended up the game-winner after Elias Lindholm's second goal of the night and 29th of the season with 40 seconds left got Calgary back to within one.
“I think guys are just excited for him,” said Washington coach Peter Laviolette. “We don’t talk about it much. I think everybody knows what’s going on and it’s awesome to be a part of.”
Interestingly, Jaromir Jagr scored his 766th goal in the Saddledome, when he wrapped up his career as a Flame.
Ovechkin had a chance for his hat trick and sole possession of third all-time in the waning seconds but his shot at the empty net was deflected by Lindholm.
“I was hoping so, but it hit his skates. It’s OK. I’ll take it tomorrow,” Ovechkin said.
Nic Dowd, who had the go-ahead goal in the third, thought they were about to witness history.
“I couldn’t believe that one got blocked at the end, but it was awesome,” Dowd said. “Obviously, we’re super excited for him and guys are trying to find him all over the ice and just to be a part of it and simply watch it, he’s the best. So really happy for him.”
Washington faces the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night in Rogers Place in the second stop of its three-game Western Canada road trip.
But in light of world events, it wasn't cheers for the 'Great Eight' and his historic pursuit. It was the opposite.
One night after the Flames showed their support for Ukraine by having Ukrainian-Canadian opera singer Stephania Romaniuk sing the Ukrainian anthem prior to Calgary's game with the Oilers, a portion of the Saddledome crowd of 15,628, booed Ovechkin whenever he touched the puck, especially early in the game.
Ovechkin has historically been a vocal supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the Capitals’ captain’s Instagram account features a photo of himself standing beside Putin. A picture of the two is also Ovechkin’s Instagram profile photo.
Post-game, Ovechkin spoke only about the game.
Connor Sheary and Anthony Mantha also scored for Washington (31-18-9).
Adam Ruzicka and Oliver Kylington were the other marksmen for Calgary (34-15-7), which had its 13-game home unbeaten streak snapped. The Pacific Division-leading Flames fall to 14-2-1 in their last 17 games overall.
Tied 2-2 after 40 minutes, Calgary took its second lead of the night at 3:45 when Kylington's slapshot deflected off Connor McMichael's stick and got past Vanecek.
But the Capitals tied it at 8:21 on Mantha's goal through a screen then surged into their first lead just over three minutes later.
Getting the puck at the sideboards, Dowd made a nice cut, to sidestep Lindholm, then from the face-off dot, ripped a shot into the top corner for his first in 10 games.
“We have a veteran team, so we’ve been there before,” said Dowd. “But that was one of the first game this year where we’ve been down a goal, we stuck with it in a tough building against a good team in their building, and did all the little things right, and we got rewarded for it at the end.”
Vitek Vanecek made 31 saves for Washington to get the win. He improves to 13-7-5.
Dan Vladar, starting for the second time in three games with workhorse starter Jacob Markstrom getting another night off, had 22 saves in taking the loss. He falls to 8-4-1.
“When you're playing back-to-backs and playing three in four, things like that, you need some big saves,” said Sutter. “That's going to happen against a team that's got a lot of ammo.”
The Capitals also trailed 2-0 in the second, but stormed back to tie it.
When Milan Lucic bobbled the rebound into the slot, Sheary buried his fourth goal in as many games. Sheary has a four-game point streak (four goals, two assists).
The Capitals pulled even at 13:23 on another turnover. Sean Monahan, in front of his own net, lost the puck to Evgeny Kuznetsov and the puck went right to Ovechkin, who ripped a shot past Vladar.
"He has a good shot. I think he does pretty much the same thing all the time but when he gets his chance he capitalizes,” said Kylington. “I think that's special with him. A player like him, you have to play him tight. You have to minimize space for him out there and just be on top of him all the time."
Notes: Capitals are 20-3-4 when Ovechkin scores a goal. ... It was the 1,000th game Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom played together. They are the first set of Capitals teammates to reach that milestone. Los Angeles's Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar are the only other active duo to have done it. ... Calgary C Mikael Backlund played in career game No. 800, all of them coming with the Flames. That ranks him fifth in franchise history.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Mar. 8, 2022.
Darren Haynes, The Canadian Press
