WASHINGTON (AP) — For Alex Ovechkin, scoring the 890th goal of his career wasn’t such a sweet moment; in fact, moving five goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record didn’t matter much to the 39-year-old after an 8-5 loss at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres.
“Right now, we lost three in a row,” Ovechkin said. “It’s a good thing it happens right now and not in the playoffs, but we just have to bounce back and find a way to win the games.”
Ovechkin scored at 9:11 of the third period, deflecting Rasmus Sandin’s shot past James Reimer to pull Washington within two.
Though the Capitals were able to pull within one and seemed to kick their game into higher gear after his goal, the 39-year-old said it was Aliaksei Protas’ shorthanded tally at the start of the period that sparked the rally.
“When you score on the PK, it give you more (life) and you can see our bench getting after the game,” Ovechkin said. “We tried to come back, but unfortunately, we can’t.”
He is now back on pace to pass Gretzky’s mark of 894 that long seemed unapproachable this spring. He has 37 this season and is on track to reach 40 for a 14th time, also the most in league history, despite missing 16 games because of a broken left fibula.
“Again, it’s insane number,” Protas said. “I don’t think I’d ever get that, even in NHL 25 (the video game) … he’s chasing something special.”
Before capping off a three-point night in the third period, Ovechkin had found his ice time limited amid numerous defensive zone starts, penalty kills and an unsatisfactory effort from the top-six. He skated just 7:43 minutes through the first two periods, the lowest on the team, and finished the night with 16:22 minutes while moving to Pierre-Luc Dubois’ line.
“We were fighting to stay in that game, I didn’t like any of our top-six again tonight,” coach Spencer Carbery said, adding, “It just hasn’t looked great. Their underlying numbers haven’t been great the last two games from our top-six.”
Ovechkin will continue his pursuit of Gretzky on Tuesday when the Capitals head north to visit the Boston Bruins.
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