Carolina Hurricanes blow out Capitals as Alex Ovechkin picks up career goal No. 892
Alex Ovechkin was in the house Wednesday and brought Gary Bettman with him.
Ovechkin, the Washington Capitals’ irrepressible offensive star, continued to chase the career goal-scoring record of NHL legend Wayne Gretzky as the Caps faced the Carolina Hurricanes at the Lenovo Center.
Bettman was there to see it. The NHL commissioner is following Ovechkin as the regular season winds down and Ovechkin’s pursuit of the record heats up.
What the commissioner saw was Ovechkin pick up goal No. 892, three shy of setting the record, and the Hurricanes pick up a 5-1 victory in the Metropolitan Division matchup to clinch a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs for a seventh straight season.
“To clinch tonight was huge and the way we did it was awesome,” Canes winger Seth Jarvis said.
Jackson Blake had a pair of goals — a first for the rookie forward — for the Canes (46-24-4), who took a 3-0 lead in the first period, limited the Caps’ opportunities and got a calm, efficient game in net from goalie Frederik Andersen, who had 20 saves in winning his seventh straight.
The game took an ugly turn in the third period, when there seemingly was a skirmish or fight every other minute. Eight misconduct penalties were called and four fighting majors. At one point, the Canes’ Logan Stankoven, listed at 5-foot-8 and 170 pounds, faced off with the Caps’ Tom Wilson, a bruiser at 6-4 and 220.
Bettman saw all that, too.
“That was definitely a chaotic third period,” Blake said. “The boys ended up sticking up for themselves. I don’t know that I’ve played in a game like that before, but it was cool to see what we did and how we stood up for ourselves.”
All eyes were on Ovechkin, who made it three straight games with a goal late in the second period. The Caps (48-18-9) had a two-man advantage on the power play, and Ovechkin unloaded a heavy one-timer from the left circle — his so-called “office” — to move another step closer to Gretzky’s mark of 894.
“With Ovechkin, I grew up watching him and I don’t know how you defend that, honestly,” Blake said.
Ovechkin’s signature shot gave him his 39th goal of the season and his 52nd career goal in 92 games against the Hurricanes.
“It’s simply incredible and it captures the imagination,” Bettman said during an in-game interview on the Canes’ FanDuel telecast. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”
Ovechkin, who was first drafted by the Capitals in the Lenovo Center in 2004, is 39. There is gray in his hair, in his beard. He may have put on a few extra pounds.
But put him on the ice and the left winger is all power, still durable. The big shot is ageless, still lethal. Consider that 416 of his goals have come since his 30th birthday — Gordie Howe held the career record with 415.
Ovechkin didn’t have the puck much in the first 20 minutes. Neither did the Caps, who had five shots on goal — one by Ovechkin — in the opening period as the Canes stayed on the attack and in the Caps’ zone.
Defenseman Sean Walker scored the first goal of the game, off a turnover from Caps defenseman Jakob Chychrun. Walker converted the bad pass into his fifth goal of the season.
The Canes’ power play took it from there. Blake gathered in a rebound and ripped a shot from the slot. Then, Jarvis blasted a one-timer from the left circle for the 3-0 lead and his 30th goal of the season.
“Get ahead, against that team, that’s the way you have to do it,” said Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour, whose team was without injured captain Jordan Staal for a second straight game.
The Caps made a change in net after the first, inserting goalie Charlie Lindgren for Logan Thompson, who suffered an upper-body injury — Thompson took a heavy shot from Walker off the helmet in the period.
Stankoven made it a 4-0 game after a blistering shot off the rush before the 5-on-3 power-play strike by Ovechkin with 35 seconds left in the second period.
Blake’s second goal of the game, his 14th of the season, came on a third-period power play, the winger popping in a short shot as Jarvis earned an assist.
Much of the pregame talk centered on Ovechkin and the record, on his longevity and his career with his Caps.
“That stuff is kind of unbelievable,” said Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho. “Everyone thought (the record) was untouchable, what Gretzky had. But he’s getting there and it’s impressive.”
Brind’Amour played against Ovechkin early in Ovechkin’s career and now has coached against him.
Asked his preference, Brind’Amour quickly replied, “Neither.”
“It’s been pretty interesting to see because to watch him play for this long, at this high a level, I don’t think anyone anticipated that,” he said. “To be able to continue to produce at the way he does, it is pretty remarkable.”
Brind’Amour said Gretzky’s total production should not be overlooked, as well, and that Ovechkin’s chase of the goal-scoring record would bring further scrutiny of Gretzky’s career numbers.
Gretzky, who retired in 1999, had the 894 goals — something seemingly akin to Babe Ruth’s vintage baseball record of 714 homers — but also is the NHL career leader in assists (1,963) and points (2,857).
By comparison, former NHL star Jaromir Jagr is second in career points with 1,921.
“For me, I think it’s great even for Wayne,” Brind’Amour said. “I think it just shows how good a player he was. We’re talking about this goal thing and he was a great goal scorer, but he was a better playmaker.”
This story was originally published April 2, 2025 at 10:23 PM.
