WASHINGTON – The Washington Capitals defeated the Florida Panthers 6-3 on Tuesday night, with Alex Ovechkin scoring his 878th career goal. Ovechkin’s goal moved him closer to Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career record of 894 goals. The Capitals have 29 games left in the season for Ovechkin to break the record, though he also has another year left on his contract.
Andrew Mangiapane, Tom Wilson, Lars Eller, Nic Dowd, and Aliaksei Protas also scored for the Capitals, while Logan Thompson made 31 saves in the win. The Panthers got goals from Sam Bennett, Aleksander Barkov, and Matthew Tkachuk, ending their three-game winning streak.
The Panthers had moments of brilliance, but it wasn’t enough to keep their winning streak alive. The Capitals started slow but found their game and got depth scoring from multiple players.
A key moment in the game was when Lars Eller scored early in the third period to end a 10-game goal drought. Eller’s goal proved to be the game-winner, with Nic Dowd scoring an insurance goal shortly after.
Protas and Wilson are tied for second on the team goal-scoring list with 22 goals each, behind Ovechkin.
Next, the Panthers will visit St. Louis on Thursday for their next game. Ovechkin and the Capitals will look to continue their strong play as they chase Gretzky’s record.
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