Alex Ovechkin’s night started off quiet, but by the end, he had his first multi-goal game in 60 days.
Ovechkin scored two consecutive goals late in the third period against the San Jose Sharks to help the Caps win 8-3.
The goals were Ovi’s 814th and 815th career goals of his career. He now trails Wayne Gretzky by 79 goals. The lamp lighters were also Ovechkin’s 34th and 35th goals of the season.
Career goal no. 814
Ovi’s first goal came on an overwhelming wrist shot from the right circle. Ovi beat Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen as clear as day.
8️⃣1️⃣4️⃣ pic.twitter.com/mf3lseBBD7
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 5, 2023
Ovi’s tally came at the 9:11 mark of the third period.
Career goal no. 815
Ovechkin scored again six minutes and 54 seconds later via a beautiful give-and-go passing play with Vincent Iorio. After getting the biscuit back from Ovechkin, Iorio skated the puck around the net where he found the captain alone backdoor.
Wins are fun…
MULTI-GOAL OVI WINS ARE GR8! pic.twitter.com/nj6SnfS4CT
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 5, 2023
The primary assist was Iorio’s first point as a Capital.
After being beat twice, Kahkonen is now the 168th goaltender that Ovechkin has ever scored on. Only Jaromir Jagr (178) and Patrick Marleau (177) have scored on more goaltenders in NHL history.
Congratulations to Kaapo Kahkonen who just became Alex Ovechkin's 168th victim.
YOU JUST MADE THE LIST @rmnb https://t.co/oApUcriuuB
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) March 5, 2023
With the two goals, Ovechkin now trails Wayne Gretzky by 79 in the race for the goals record.
Ovi’s performance against the Sharks was also his 166th career multi-goal game, trailing only Wayne Gretzky (189) for the most in NHL history.
Alex Ovechkin scores his second goal of the game to give the Capitals a 7-3 lead, his third point of the game (2g, 1a). It marks Ovechkin's 166th career multi-goal game, which trails only Wayne Gretzky (189) for the most in NHL history.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) March 5, 2023
All in all, it was a pretty gr8 night.
Tonight's @ovi8 update:
🚨 Passed Stan Mikita on the all-time points list
🚨 Recorded his 130th three-point game (tied for 20th in NHL history)
🚨 Recorded his 27th multi-goal third period (tied for 2nd most in NHL history)#NHLStats: https://t.co/gLoRa3pvfh pic.twitter.com/bWcv8XoBg6— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 5, 2023