Washington’s Alex Ovechkin celebrates after scoring a goal against the New York Islanders in the third period Tuesday night in Washington. The goal gave Ovechkin 767 career goals and sole possession of third on NHL career list. Julio Cortez/Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin scored his 767th goal to pass Jaromir Jagr for third on the NHL career list in the Washington Capitals’ 4-3 shootout victory against the New York Islanders on Tuesday night.
Ovechkin’s goal with 4:58 left in the third period gave the Capitals the lead and made him the top European goal-scorer in league history. The longtime Russian captain was surrounded by teammates while he was given a standing ovation by the crowd that has cheered Ovechkin for almost two decades.
“I think everybody wants me to score that goal,” Ovechkin said. “Everybody involved with this milestone. I would say I’m very happy and thankful to be on this team for such a long time, especially with those guys.”
The chants of “Ovi! Ovi!” continued before Islanders captain Anders Lee tied it with a six-on-five goal with 1:59 remaining in the third. But fans left happy after Anthony Mantha scored the shootout winner to extend the Capitals’ winning streak to two and make them 5-0-1 in their past six games.
All eyes were on Ovechkin and his attempt to break the tie with Jagr, whose rough tenure with the Capitals from 2001-04 made him unpopular among Washington fans. Ovechkin has had no such issues here, even after his country invaded Ukraine by order of President Vladimir Putin, whom Ovechkin has long supported.
With the focus on his on-ice accomplishments, it came into clear focus that only Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe have scored more NHL goals. Ovechkin needs 35 goals to pass Howe and 128 to break Gretzky’s record — long thought to be unapproachable in modern hockey.
RANGERS 4, DUCKS 3: Adam Fox scored 55 seconds into overtime and New York beat visiting Anaheim.
Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Jonny Brodzinski also scored for the Rangers, who have won 5 of 7. Artemi Panarin had three assists and Fox added two to help New York improve to 12-2-1 in its last 15 home games. Alexandar Georgiev made 20 saves.
Max Comtois, Cam Fowler and Derek Grant scored for Anaheim, which lost its fifth straight – all on the road. Adam Henrique had two assists and John Gibson finished with 34 saves.
PREDATORS 4, PENGUINS 1: Juuse Saros made 35 saves to lead Nashville over visiting Pittsburgh.
Mattias Ekholm, Tanner Jeannot, Eeli Tolvanen and Yakov Trenin scored for the Predators, who have won 5 of 6. Roman Josi and Colton Sissons each had two assists.
Jake Guentzel scored for Pittsburgh, which had a two-game winning streak end.
COYOTES 6, CANADIENS 3: Barrett Hayton, Anton Stralman, Nick Ritchie, Lawson Crouse, Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz scored as Arizona won at Montreal.
Karel Vejmelka gave up three goals on 39 shots for the Coyotes.
Laurent Dauphin scored and Cole Caufield made things interesting with two goals in the span of 8 seconds.
MAPLE LEAFS 4, STARS 0: Erik Kallgren made 35 saves to earn a shutout in his first NHL start as Toronto won at home.
John Tavares had a goal and an assist for Toronto. Rasmus Sandin and Ondrej Kase also scored, and Mitch Marner and Morgan Rielly had two assists apiece.
Ilya Mikheyev added an empty-netter.
Jake Oettinger stopped 36 shots for Dallas.
JETS 7, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3: Kyle Connor extended his goal-scoring streak to five games, and Winnipeg sent visiting Vegas to its fifth straight loss.
Connor added a pair of assists to go with his 38th goal of the season. Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele, Logan Stanley and Josh Morrissey each had a goal and an assist, and Nikolaj Ehlers and Adam Lowry also scored for the Jets.
Connor Hellebuyck made 35 saves for Winnipeg.
NOTES
STARS: Goaltender Anton Khudobin is expected to miss six months after having hip surgery, a move that almost certainly means Braden Holtby will remain with the team rather than getting moved before the trade deadline.
Khudobin, 35, underwent arthroscopic surgery and had the labrum repaired in his right hip, General Manager Jim Nill said a day after the procedure was done in New York.
Khudobin had not played in the NHL since mid-January and at all since Jan. 29. He has split time this season with Dallas and their top affiliate, the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League.
TRADE: The Colorado Avalanche acquired Nico Sturm from the Minnesota Wild for Tyson Jost in a swap of centers.
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