After a four game goalless streak, Alex Ovechkin is back on the board.
Thanks to a nifty set play off a faceoff win in the offensive zone, Ovechkin found the puck in his wheelhouse and rifled a wrist shot from the left circle past Flyers’ goaltender Samuel Ersson.
The goal marked Ovechkin’s 839th of his career.
Hendrix Lapierre, who idolized Ovechkin growing up and wore yellow laces in his skates until the age of 12, registered the secondary assist while Wilson, after his brilliant bump pass, got the primary apple.
Ovechkin’s goal, scored 4:34 into the second period, woke up the Capitals and the Capital One Arena crowd after a listless first 20 minutes. A little over five minutes later, Sonny Milano tied the game up on a broken play in front of the net. John Carlson later added a wraparound goal to give the Capitals a 3-2 lead.
The goal marked Ovechkin’s 17th goal of the season. Ersson is now the 173rd different goaltender Ovechkin has scored on — the third-most all time. Only Jaromir Jagr (178) and Patrick Marleau (177) have scored on more goalies.
Ovechkin now trails Wayne Gretzky for the NHL’s all-time goals record by 55.
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— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 2, 2024
According to Capitals PR, the tally marked Ovechkin’s 48th career goal against the Flyers — the third most he has scored against a single opponent (WPG/ATL: 53; TBL: 50).
Ovechkin also passed Wayne Gretzky for the most goals ever scored in March all-time.
