WASHINGTON (AP) - Alex Ovechkin scored his 878th career goal into an empty net with 0.1 seconds left on the clock to move closer to Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career record, and the Washington Capitals defeated the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers 6-3 on Tuesday night.
Ovechkin scores 878th career goal into empty net with 0.1 seconds left as Capitals beat Panthers 6-3
WASHINGTON (AP) - Alex Ovechkin scored his 878th career goal into an empty net with 0.1 seconds left on the clock to move closer to Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career record, and the Washington Capitals defeated the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers 6-3 on Tuesday night.
Ovechkin’s goal puts him 17 away from breaking Gretzky's mark of 894 that once seemed unapproachable. The Capitals have 29 games left for him to get to 895 or beyond this season, though he does have another year left on his contract.
Andrew Mangiapane, Tom Wilson, Lars Eller and Nic Dowd scored on two-time Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, and Aliaksei Protas also had an empty-netter. Logan Thompson, among the current contenders for the award, stopped 31 of the 34 shots he faced to help Washington avoid losing three in a row.
Florida’s winning streak ended at three despite goals from Sam Bennett, Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk and 21 saves by Bobrovsky.