CALGARY — Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe. Those are now the only two names ahead of Alex Ovechkin on the NHL's all-time goals list.
Calgary - Wayne Gretzky and Gordy Howe. They are now the only two names ahead of Alex Ovechkin on the NHL's list of all-time goals.
Ovechkin moved into third on Tuesday with Jaromir Jager, scoring twice as the Washington Capitals pulled back from behind in the third period for a 5-4 win over the Calgary Flames.
Ovechkin's 35th and 36th goals of the season, his career numbers 765 and 766, move him within 35 of Howe. Gretzky is next with 894.
"Obviously milestones like this, it's always good to hear the numbers," said Ovechkin, who has three straight games. "It's huge, obviously, and how I always said, with those names and in this company, it's a great moment."
The 36-year-old's second goal, which came into an empty net at 18:12 and made it 5-3, finished game-winner after Elias Lindholm's second goal of the night and 29th goal of the season with 40 seconds. Calgary back within one.
"I think people are excited for him," said Washington coach Peter Laviolette. "We don't talk about it much. I think everyone knows what's going on and it's fantastic to be a part of it."
Interestingly, Jaromir Jagar scored his 766th goal at Saddledome when he wrapped up his career as a Flame.
Ovechkin had his hat-trick and the only chance of a third all-time possession in the falling seconds, but his shot over the empty net was deflected by Lindholm.
"I was hoping so, but it hit his skates. Okay. I'll have it tomorrow," Ovechkin said.
Nick Dowd, who had a goal to advance into third, thought he was about to see history.
"I couldn't believe someone got blocked in the end, but it was awesome," Dowd said. “Obviously we are so excited for him and people are trying to find him in all the snow and just to be a part of it and just watch it, he is the best. So really happy for him.”
Washington will take on the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night at Rogers Place in the second leg of their three-game Western Canada road trip.
But in the light of world events, this was not a cheer for the 'Great Eight' and their historical discovery. It was the opposite.
A night after the Flames showed their support for Ukraine, Ukrainian-Canadian opera singer Stefania Romaniuk sang the Ukrainian anthem before Calgary's game with the Oilers, part of a saddledome crowd of 15,628, to Ovechkin whenever she touched the puck. Boo did, especially early in the game.
Ovechkin has historically been a vocal supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the Capitol captain's Instagram account features a photo of him standing beside Putin. A picture of the two is also Ovechkin's Instagram profile photo.
After the game, Ovechkin talked only about sports.
Conor Sheery and Anthony Mantha also scored for Washington (31-18-9).
Adam Ruzica and Oliver Killington were the other shooters for Calgary (34-15-7), breaking their 13-game unbeaten streak. The Pacific Division-leading Flames fell 14-2-1 on aggregate in their last 17 games.
At a 2-2 draw after 40 minutes, Calgary took the second lead of the night at 3:45, when Kyllington's slap came off Conor McMichael's stick and went past Vanessek.
But the Capitals tied it through the screen at 8:21 on Mantha's goal and then took their first lead just three minutes later.
After receiving the puck on the sideboard, Dowd made a fine cut to bypass Lindholm, then from a face-off dot, ripped a shot into the top corner for his first shot in 10 games.
"We have an experienced team, so we've been there before," Dowd said. "But it was one of the first games of the year where we've been down a goal, we got stuck in a tough building with it against a good team, and did all the little things right, and we were rewarded for that." At the end."
Vitek Venek made 31 saves to give Washington the win. He improves at 13-7-5.
Dan Vlader, starting for the second time in three games, had 22 left to lose, with workhorse starter Jakob Markström taking another night off. He falls 8-4-1.
"When you're playing back-to-back and playing three out of four, things like this, you need some big saves," Sutter said. "It's going to be against a team that has a lot of ammo."
The Capitals also went down 2–0 in the second, but came back to tie it.
When Milan Lucic rebounded in the slot, Sherri buried his fourth goal in as many games. Sherri has a four-game point streak (four goals, two assists).
On another trade the Capitals also pulled off at 13:23. Sean Monahan, in front of his own net, lost the puck to Evgeny Kuznetsov and the puck went to Ovechkin, who gave a shot to Vladar.
Kyllington said, "He has a good shot. I think he does the same thing all the time, but he takes advantage of it when he gets a chance. I think it's special with him. Like him." Player, you have to play with him. Tight. You have to minimize space for him and just be on top of him all the time."