WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin reached a career milestone at a rapid pace and in signature fashion.
Ovechkin scored his 500th and 501st goals to become the 43rd NHL player to reach the mark and the Washington Capitals beat the Ottawa Senators 7-1 Sunday night.
The landmark score was vintage Ovechkin. Posted up just beyond the left hashes during a power play, he fielded a feed from Jason Chimera and then whizzed a shot past the head of goalie Andrew Hammond just under the crossbar for a 5-1 lead.
The Washington bench cleared and teammates mobbed Ovechkin. He got an extended standing ovation and took a saluting skate around the rink, acknowledging the cheering crowd that included his parents. He later drew another roar while waving to fans from the bench.
“It was a special moment, in front of fans ... my teammates, my parents,” Ovechkin said. “It’s huge. It’s pretty cool. It’s a history moment.”
During his 11 NHL seasons, the Russian winger has earned a spirited reputation for celebrating goals by him and his teammates. This time, the Washington players were eager to pay tribute to him.
At 801 games, the Russian winger is the fifth-fastest player to 500 goals, trailing only Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky (575 games), Mario Lemieux (605), Mike Bossy (647) and Brett Hull (693). The 30-year-old Ovechkin has 26 goals this season, including five over his past three games, and is the NHL leader in career goals by a Russian-born player.
Ovechkin added No. 501 midway through third, beating a defender with a sweeping deke at the top of the zone before smacking a shot past Hammond for the 7-1 advantage.
Ovechkin was the first overall pick in the 2004 draft by Washington. He’s been named an All-Star in each of his 11 seasons and was voted a captain for this year’s All-Star game. He’s won three straight Richard Trophies as the league’s leading goal scorer and five overall. He’s also won three Hart Trophies as league MVP.
Washington has won four straight overall and 10 consecutive home games.
Justin Williams, T.J. Oshie, Zach Sill, Dmitry Orlov and Tom Wilson also scored for Washington. Chimera and Nicklas Backstrom each had three assists, and Philipp Grubauer made 32 saves.
Mike Hoffman had Ottawa’s lone goal, and Hammond stopped 29 of 36 shots.
Williams put Washington on the board 8:07 into the first, and Oshie scored on a power play later in the period.
Hoffman cut the deficit to 2-1 early in the second period, but Sill, Orlov and Ovechkin scored later in the second and then Wilson and Ovechkin had goals in the third.
Panthers 2, Oilers 1: The Florida Panthers directed only 14 shots on goal but Jaromir Jagr and Jonathan Huberdeau were still able to find the net in a 2-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers.
It was the Panthers 12th straight win — marking the first time a team has won a dozen games in a row since the Boston Bruins did it during the 2013-14 season.
After just 3:22 of the first, the ageless Jagr scored on a breakaway.
The 43-year-old actually lost control of the puck as he bore down on Oilers goalie Cam Talbot but still managed to slide a shot between the netminder’s pads.
It was Jagr’s 737th career goal, putting him just four behind Brett Hull for third all-time on the NHL all-time goals list.
Huberdeau scored less than four minutes later before Oilers center Mark Letestu halved the deficit at 12:32 of the first but there were no more goals in a feisty, fight-filled encounter.
Blackhawks 6, Avalanche 3: Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa scored two goals apiece, and Chicago overwhelmed Colorado.
Jonathan Toews scored a goal and added two assists, Brandon Mashinter also scored for the Blackhawks. Matt Duchene led the Avalanche with two goals and Nathan MacKinnon added a goal.
Corey Crawford stopped 34 shots for the Blackhawks and Semyon Varlamov allowed four goals on 20 shots before he was replaced by Calvin Pickard, who stopped 13 of 15 shots in relief for the Avalanche.
Other results: Sabres 4, Jets 2; Devils 2, Wild 1; Red Wings 2, Ducks 1. — Agencies
