Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) and teammates react after an NHL hockey game against the New York Rangers, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
WASHINGTON (AP) – Alex Ovechkin scored career goals number 855 and 856 less than two minutes apart, and the Washington Capitals beat the New York Rangers 5-3 on Tuesday night in a back-and-forth NHL thriller.
Ovechkin moved 38 away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career goals record, scoring two of the seven goals in the game’s first 25 minutes. A furious start also included Matt Rempe fighting Dylan McIlrath in his return to the Rangers lineup, electrifying the sellout crowd.
Capitals fans went home happy as their team continued a strong start thanks to Connor McMichael’s fourth goal of the season and the second by Aliaksei Protas, who had a pair of assists for a three-point night. Logan Thompson made 16 saves and Nic Dowd sealed it with an empty-netter with 35.8 seconds left.
Despite allowing four goals, Igor Shesterkin was arguably the best player on the ice in stopping 41 of the 45 shots he faced. New York got goals from Will Cuylle 58 seconds after Ovechkin’s first, Chris Kreider on the power play and Filip Chytil on a deflection but could not give Shesterkin enough support.
Capitals defenceman Jakob Chychrun left early with what the team called an upper-body injury.
Elsewhere in the NHL on Tuesday:
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WILD 5 PENGUINS 3
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 26 shots in what will likely be his final game in Pittsburgh as the Minnesota Wild beat the Penguins 5-3.
Frederick Gaudreau scored twice and Kirill Kaprizov added a goal and two assists. Kaprizov tied the franchise record with his sixth straight multi-point game. Mats Zuccarello and Jakub Lauko also scored for Minnesota.
Rickard Rakell scored twice and Valtteri Puustinen got his first power-play goal for the Penguins.
Sidney Crosby had three assists. Joel Blomqvist stopped 34 shots for Pittsburgh.
Fleury, who turns 40 next month, indicated the 2024-25 season will be his last. Fleury, now in his 21st NHL season, played his 100th game with Minnesota on Tuesday.
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DUCKS 3 ISLANDERS 1
NEW YORK (AP) – Leo Carlsson and Troy Terry scored power-play goals, Lukas Dostal turned aside 41 shots and the Anaheim Ducks beat the New York Islanders 3-1.
Mason McTavish had two assists and Frank Vatrano added an empty-net goal in the final minute and had an assist.
Mathew Barzal scored his second of the season and Ilya Sorokin finished with 19 saves but the Islanders lost for the third time in their last four games.
Carlsson deflected Vatrano’s shot at 14:05 of the first to open the scoring.
McTavish cleverly slid a puck through the crease to set up Terry on the man advantage at 14:07 of the middle period to extend the Ducks lead to 2-0.
Barzal spoiled Dostal’s shutout attempt with a one-time blast at 5:31 of the third to pull the Islanders within one goal.
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KRAKEN 8 CANADIENS 2
MONTREAL (AP) – Defenceman Brandon Montour had three goals and one assist, and the Seattle Kraken crushed the Montreal Canadiens 8-2.
Jaden Schwartz scored once with two helpers and Chandler Stephenson added four assists as Seattle snapped a three-game losing streak.
Oliver Bjorkstrand and Jamie Oleksiak had a goal and an assist each, while Ryker Evans and Eeli Tolvanen also scored. Jared McCann pitched in two assists and Joey Daccord made 28 saves.
The Kraken chased Canadiens netminder Sam Montembeault with five goals on 10 shots. Backup Cayden Primeau stopped 10 of 13 the rest of the way for Montreal, which had won two games in a row.
Cole Caufield and Josh Anderson scored for the Canadiens.
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FLYERS 2 BRUINS 0
BOSTON (AP) – Samuel Ersson stopped 23 shots, Tyson Foerster broke a scoreless tie early in the second period and the visiting Philadelphia Flyers beat the Boston Bruins 2-0.
Joel Farabee added an empty-net goal with 24 seconds remaining and the Flyers won in Boston for the first time since a 3-2 victory on April 5, 2021.
Ersson got his sixth career shutout and first this season. He survived a scare about five minutes into the third period when the puck got behind him after glancing off his skate. But he flopped backward on top of it and kept it from crossing the line.
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SENATORS 8 BLUES 1
OTTAWA, Ont. (AP) – Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle and Adam Gaudette each scored two goals as the Ottawa Senators whipped the St. Louis Blues 8-1.
The game was delayed 30 minutes due to a power outage at the Canadian Tire Centre, but the Senators offence came out fully charged after that.
Josh Norris scored a minute into the game, while Noah Gregor added another just three minutes later before Stützle – who snapped a six-game goalless drought – added his first of the game.
Linus Ullmark made 26 saves to record his second victory of the season.
The Senators chased Blues’ starting goalie Joel Hofer after he let in five goals – including back-to-back power-play efforts from Tkachuk in the second period – on 21 shots.
Jordan Binnington allowed three goals in relief.
The Blues finally got on the board with a power-play goal from Dylan Holloway at 9:04 of the third period.
It was the second time in 15 days the Senators scored eight goals, after an 8-7 overtime victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 14.
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