Alex Ovechkin reaches 20 goals in 19th consecutive season

Mar 19, 2024, 12:29 AM ET

CALGARY, Alberta — Alex Ovechkin scored twice, becoming the third player in NHL history to have at least 20 goals in 19 consecutive seasons, lifting the Washington Capitals past the Calgary Flames 5-2 on Monday night in a critical game for the Eastern Conference playoff standings.

The 38-year-old Ovechkin had two power-play goals in the second period as Washington won its third straight game. He joined Gordie Howe (22) and Brendan Shanahan (19) as the only players to achieve the goal-scoring feat.

Dylan Strome, Hendrix Lapierre and Tom Wilson also scored for Washington (33-25-9), which moved into the second wild-card spot in the East, one point ahead of the idle Detroit Red Wings. It’s the first time the Capitals have occupied a playoff spot since Jan. 2.

Kevin Rooney and MacKenzie Weegar scored for Calgary (33-30-5). The Flames finished 2-2-0 in a four-game homestand.

Washington goalie Charlie Lindgren had 34 saves and improved to 18-11-5. He has won five of his last six games with a .956 save percentage.

Calgary rookie Dustin Wolf allowed four goals on 32 shots in his third straight start and saw his record dip to 3-4-1. Wolf had allowed three goals on 67 shots in winning his last two games.

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Ovechkin’s 20th goal of the season made it 2-0 at 5:58 of the second period. Ovechkin went to the net where he neatly deflected a hard centering pass from Max Pacioretty into the top corner. After pumping his arms in celebration, Ovechkin immediately looked over at Pacioretty and pointed, acknowledging the terrific pass.

Just over three minutes later, Washington’s power play struck again. Ovechkin set up at the top of the faceoff circle, stick cocked. When John Carlson slid a pass across, Ovechkin leaned into a slap shot that beat Wolf inside the near post.

The Capitals, on their social media pages, posted coach Spencer Carbery’s postgame speech to his team in the locker room, where he lauded Ovechkin.

“The difference in the game?…

Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/39763411/alex-ovechkin-reaches-20-goals-19th-consecutive-season

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Publish date : 2024-03-19 05:34:07

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