Alex Ovechkin scored two historic goals to lead the visiting Washington Capitals to a 5-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night.
Ovechkin netted the 402nd and 403rd road goals of his career to pass Wayne Gretzky for first place on the NHL all-time list.
The Capitals forward is seven goals away from 800 and nine from passing Gordie Howe for second place on the all-time list.
Anthony Mantha had a goal and an assist for the Capitals, who snapped a six-game road losing streak (0-4-2) and have won three of their past four overall. Darcy Kuemper made 31 saves.
Nils Hoglander scored for the Canucks, who had won five of six. Spencer Martin made 23 saves.
At 5:35 of the first period, Ovechkin blocked a pass by Quinn Hughes near the Canucks’ net and knocked the puck past Martin to give Washington a 1-0 lead. It was Ovechkin’s 135th game-opening goal, matching Jaromir Jagr’s NHL record.
Ovechkin made it 2-0 at 11:52 when he scored on a one-timer from the left faceoff circle, off a pass from Dylan Strome on the rush. In addition to breaking Gretzky’s record, it was his 13th goal of the season.
Hoglander pulled the Canucks within 2-1 at 13:55, when he got a feed from J.T. Miller, skated to the front of the net and sent a backhand shot past Kuemper.
Washington answered quickly when Mantha found himself alone in front after another Canucks turnover; he scored at 14:35 off a centering pass from Marcus Johansson along the left wall.
At 18:47 of the second period, John Carlson received a pass from Nic Dowd and scored on a wrist shot from the slot to make it 4-1. Carlson has five goals since returning to the lineup on Nov. 11 after missing six games with a lower-body injury.
Ovechkin nearly finished off a hat trick but hit the crossbar in the opening minute of the third period.
The Canucks pulled Martin at 13:09 of the third period, and Martin Fehervary scored into the empty net at 15:57 for the 5-1 final.
–Field Level Media
