Ignited by an electric fight between Dylan McIlrath and Matt Rempe, Alex Ovechkin scored two goals on Igor Shesterkin early in the first period, helping push the Washington Capitals to a 5-3 victory over the New York Rangers.
Ovechkin’s two tallies came one minute and forty-seven seconds apart to give the Capitals a 2-1 lead.
The 39-year-old Capitals captain now has 857 goals in his historic career, trailing Wayne Gretzky by 37 for a share of the NHL goals record (894). With four goals in eight games, Ovechkin is now on pace for a 41-goal campaign, which would tie him with Gretzky by season’s end.
The goals on Shesterkin, the NHL’s 2022 Vezina Trophy winner, were Ovechkin’s third and fourth goals on the Rangers goalie in his career.
Ovi got on the scoreboard first 3:23 into the game. Forty-six seconds after McIlrath won his bout against Rempe, Ovechkin was the benefactor of some hard work along the boards by Aliaksei Protas.
After retrieving a loose puck along the side boards, Protas dished to Ovechkin at the blue line. Ovi then dumped the puck down to Dylan Strome in the corner, who hit the winger with a perfect give-and-go. Wide open, the Capitals sniper beat Shesterkin with a shot five hole, making it 1-0 Caps.
After the Rangers’ Will Cuylle tied it up 58 seconds later, Ovechkin struck again at the 5:10 mark of the first period.
Strome lost a faceoff in the offensive zone but stole a Rangers pass along the side boards. The Canadian centerman then sprung the Belorussian forward and Ovechkin on a two-on-one. Protas made the pass, and Ovechkin slammed it home.
“[McIlrath] set the tone right away,” Ovechkin said. “Two big boys fighting, and you can see the whole building going after, and we score huge three goals (in the first period). That was a great job from him.”
Ovechkin was unable to complete the hat trick despite having 11 individual shot attempts by himself. He finished the evening with five shots on goal in 17:10 of ice time.
“I had pretty good chance in the second, and the third, and the first, but he’s top goalie in the league, and he’s going to take a battle,” Ovechkin said. “It’s always fun when we play against one of the best teams in the league. It’s fun to play, it’s fun to watch, and a big two points.”
“I was on the edge of the seat, like this is going to be a hat trick tonight, just storybook with the way the game’s gone,” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery added. “Aside from the chances and the goals, I thought he was fantastic. He should be real confident after his performance tonight.”
Per Capitals PR, Ovechkin’s two even-strength goals in the first period pushed him past Jaromir Jagr (538) for the third-most even-strength goals in NHL history.
With two even-strength goals in the first period, Alex Ovechkin passed Jaromir Jagr (538) for the third most even-strength goals in NHL history. pic.twitter.com/sqCmp6eJvt
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) October 30, 2024
The two-goal night also marked his 174th career multi-goal game, fifteen short of Wayne Gretzky (189) for the most in NHL history. His 82 multi-goal periods also only trail Gretzky’s 90.
Alex Ovechkin scored twice in the opening 5:10 of the first period and is now just 38 goals from passing Wayne Gretzky for most goals in NHL history.
Watch him now on @ESPN, @ESPNPlus#NHLStats: https://t.co/JVGlzZnDmV pic.twitter.com/ROcVVLTtun
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) October 30, 2024
“You can see how we play those two shifts (we played),” Ovechkin said. “We manage the puck well, we find the right spots and good plays, and the puck went in the net.”
When asked by ESPN’s Emily Kaplan if he was about to go on a heater, Ovi smiled and said, “I hope so. We’ll see!”
