The Washington Capitals lost to the Montreal Canadiens 6-2 at Bell Centre Saturday night, but there was at least one positive.
Alex Ovechkin ended his seven-game scoreless streak, scoring twice on Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobeš. The goals were the second and third of his career against the netminder.
Alex Ovechkin’s 920th career goal
Ovechkin’s first goal of the night came at 13:16 of the first period, tying the game 1-1.
After Declan Chisholm fired a shot from the point, the puck hit Anthony Beauvillier camped outside the crease and deflected over to Ovechkin on the other side of the net. Ovechkin then fired a shot into the yawning net from 10 feet away.
The goal marked Ovechkin’s 23rd of the season, temporarily tying him with Tom Wilson for the team lead.
Alex Ovechkin’s 921st career goal
Ovechkin found paydirt again, 12:12 into the third period, and again from close range. While forechecking in the corner, Dylan Strome sent a centering pass to Ovechkin, who had found a hole in the defense, and the Capitals captain beat Dobeš from 8 feet away.
The goal was Ovechkin’s 24th of the season, giving him the lead in goals, supplanting Wilson. It also gave Ovi his fourth multi-goal game of the season, two of which have come against the Canadiens at Bell Centre. He previously had his 33rd career hat trick in Montreal on November 20.
The tally now gives Ovechkin 998 career goals, regular season and playoffs combined. He’s only two tallies away from becoming just the second player ever to reach 1,000 goals, joining Wayne Gretzky (1,016).
Dating back to the 2018-19 season, Ovechkin has at least one point in eight straight games at Bell Centre (10g-4a–14p in 8 GP).
