WASHINGTON – Alex Ovechkin scored his 903rd career NHL goal Monday night, powering the Washington Capitals to a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings and etching another historic milestone into the record books.
With the second-period tally at Capital One Arena, Ovechkin passed Gordie Howe for the most regular-season goals scored at a single venue in NHL history, notching his 442nd career goal on home ice.
Matt Roy opened the scoring for Washington early in the first period, redirecting an Aliaksei Protas point shot past Darcy Kuemper for his first goal in 25 games (dating back to last season). The Capitals, who have struggled to generate 5-on-5 offense lately, snapped a two-game skid with the win.
Ovechkin extended the lead in the second when he crashed the net and buried a wrap-around feed from Connor McMichael. The goal marked back-to-back games with a tally for Ovechkin and gave him three goals in his last four contests.
Anže Kopitar brought the Kings within one late in the second, tapping home a backdoor pass from Corey Perry on the power play for his third of the season. Los Angeles had won four straight coming in and suffered just their second regulation road loss of the year.
Despite a late push, the Kings couldn’t solve Charlie Lindgren, who turned aside 30 of 31 shots to earn his second win of the season after dropping his previous four starts. Kuemper made 23 saves on 25 shots in the loss.
