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NEW YORK (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored his 885th career goal midway through the third period of the Washington Capitals' game against New York Rangers on Wednesday night, moving nine away from tying Wayne Gretzky's NHL record.
The Capitals' captain scored as he knocked in a loose puck from the left side with 9:32 left in the third period to tie the score 2-2. Ovechkin now has 46 goals in 76 career games against the Rangers.
“Great job on faceoff,” Ovechkin said of the play. "Great battle and the puck came to me.”
Capitals coach Spencer Carbery was more effusive in his praise for his star forward.
”He has a flair for the dramatics at a key moment in the game,” Carbery said. “The puck squirts to him and he makes no mistake. That’s a huge goal for our team, huge goal on the power play. It’s not him in his office, it’s him jumping on a loose puck.”
The Capitals went on to win 3-2 in overtime on Tom Wilson's goal at 4:07.
Ovechkin has 32 goals in 46 games this season. He had 15 goals in his first 18 games, then missed 16 games with a fractured left fibula. He returned Dec. 28 and has scored 17 in 28 games since.
The Russian star is on pace to break Gretzky’s mark of 894, which had long seemed unapproachable, in early April, well before the regular season is over.
“What do we need, 10 more (to set the record),” Carbery said. “Ten more. We got this."
Ovechkin now has 321 power-play goals, extending his NHL record, and is one point away from becoming the 11th player to reach 1,600 career points.
Ovechkin had two shots blocked and an attempt denied by Igor Shesterkin on his first shift in the opening minutes of the game. In the second period, he fired a wrist shot that was gloved by Shesterkin 2 1/2 minutes in, and turned and sent a shot that was saved by the goalie with 1:11 to go in the period.
He broke through in the third period and then nearly won it 2 minutes into overtime but Shesterkin gloved the puck as he fell to the ice with his legs spread.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
