Alex Ovechkin continued his march to the fifth-leading scorer in National Hockey League (NHL) history, scoring two goals in the Capitals’ 2-1 win over the New York Rangers on Friday night at Washington.
The Russian forward hit the target twice in just over three minutes in the third period. His 13th and 14th goals of the season gave the Capitals a seventh straight victory.
With 720 career goals, Ovechkin is quickly approaching Marcel Dionne, who holds the fifth-largest NHL scorers’ spot with 731 goals.
Among the Rangers, Artemi Panarin was the only one to beat Vitek Vanecek. He did it in the first period, on the power play. Vanecek repelled 32 Rangers shots. His opposite, Alexandar Georgiev, yielded twice on 18 shots.
The Capitals and Rangers will face off again on Saturday.
Tarasenko wins the Blues
In San Jose, shootouts were necessary in the game between the San Jose Sharks and the St. Louis Blues and it was the latter who had the final say to win the game 2-1.
It was Vladimir Tarasenko, the third shooter on his team, who scored the winning net, while Jordan Binnington closed the door on Kevin Labanc.
The Sharks took the lead thanks to Ryan Donato in the second period. Tyler Bozak, however, tied the game in the next round, shorthanded. The center player was celebrating his 35th birthday and scored his first goal of the season.
The two goalkeepers had a strong game. Binnington blocked 30 shots for the win, while Martin Jones stood up to 33 shots.
Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist was forced out of the game after sustaining a lower body injury. His condition will be reassessed over the weekend.
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