Alex Ovechkin scored at 3:07 of overtime to lift the visiting Washington Capitals over the Ottawa Senators 1-0 on Thursday night.
Ovechkin took a pass from Rasmus Sandin on the rush and beat Leevi Merilainen from the left circle for his 874th NHL goal. He is now 21 away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 894 goals.
Ovechkin has 21 goals this season in 29 games.
The Capitals have won three straight games and extended their point streak to nine games (6-0-3). They have gone to overtime in five of their past eight games.
Logan Thompson stopped 24 shots for his second consecutive shutout and the sixth of his career. He became the first Capitals goaltender to post back-to-back shutouts since Ilya Samsonov in 2021-22.
Thompson, making his third straight start with Charlie Lindgren on injured reserve, improved to 20-2-3 on the season.
Moments before Ovechkin’s goal, Merilainen, who was also coming off a shutout, stopped Tom Wilson on a breakaway. He had won his past three starts, two by shutout. Merilainen made 26 saves.
Ottawa had won three straight after losing four in a row.
The Senators were 0-for-3 on the power play; the Capitals were 0-for-1.
Ovechkin had a chance early on but missed an open net when he couldn’t control a pass across the crease from Brandon Duhaime on the rush.
Thompson stopped Ridly Greig on a partial breakaway early in the third period and, with 4:42 remaining in the third, made a strong save against Brady Tkachuk’s clean shot from the point.
Senators defenseman Donovan Sebrango played 11:38 in his NHL debut.
Ovechkin (179) passed Jaromir Jagr for the most goaltenders scored on in NHL history. He has 37 goals in 58 career games against Ottawa, including 18 in 29 games in Ottawa. Only Jagr (44) had more goals against the Senators.
–Field Level Media
