Alex Ovechkin scored his 39th goal of the season in the Capitals’ 5-1 win over the San Jose Sharks, Thursday.

Ovechkin now leads second-place goalscorers, Patrick Kane and Jeff Skinner, by five goals with 24 games remaining in the season.

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Ovechkin scored at 4:14 of the second period after a slick cross-ice pass by Evgeny Kuznetsov.

Ovechkin is now one goal away from his tenth 40-goal season which would tie him with Mario Lemieux and Marcel Dionne for the second-most all time. Only Wayne Gretzky, 12, has more.

Photo: NBC Sports Washington

ESPN projects Ovechkin will score approximately 55 goals by season’s end, which would be his highest amount since the 2008-09 season (56).

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Sharks

Headline photo: NBC Sports Washington