Alex Ovechkin on Monday scored twice and became the third player in NHL history to have at least 20 goals in 19 consecutive seasons as the Washington Capitals beat the Calgary Flames 5-2.
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.
“Consistency. Not just from the scoring part, but also him being in the lineup and being durable and him being able to play game after game after game all these years,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said of Ovechkin.
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“We needed every single bit of those two goals tonight to get us in front and to be able to play from in front because you could tell early on we had zero legs and mentally some of the puck decisions, plays, it was uncharacteristic,” he said.
Dylan Strome, Hendrix Lapierre and Tom Wilson also scored for Washington (33-25-9), which moved into the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the idle Detroit Red Wings. It is the first time the Capitals have occupied a playoff spot since Jan. 2.
“We still can do it. We’re still in the battle. Every point counts,” Ovechkin said.
His 20th goal of the season made it 2-0 at 5 minutes, 58 seconds of the second period. He 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 Calgary rookie Dustin Wolf inside the near post.
“That’s a hell of a hockey player over there. He had a couple of good chances, but it’s pretty cool to say you stopped a few,” Wolf said.
Ovechkin has 12 goals in 20 games since the All-Star break after scoring just nine times in 44 games before that. He raised his career goal total to 843, second to — and 51 behind — Wayne Gretzky.
In Seattle, Jeff Skinner had a hat-trick, with his first goal coming during a three-goal outburst in the first six minutes to chase Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord, as the Buffalo Sabres cruised to a 6-2 victory.
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