WASHINGTON — Nothing about Alex Ovechkin the showman surprises the Washington Capitals anymore.
That Ovechkin carried them on his back with two goals as they beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 Wednesday night for their seventh consecutive victory was hardly a shock. With the thought of recording his 1,000th point in his mind before the game, Ovechkin scored a goal 35 seconds in to reach that milestone and made it 1,001 with a power-play goal later to help snap the rival Penguins’ winning streak at five.
Ovechkin is the only player to score 20 in every season since 2005-06, his rookie year.
Good things have been happening a lot lately for the Capitals, who ended the Columbus Blue Jackets’ winning streak at 16 Thursday, celebrated Backstrom’s 500th career assist Saturday and Ovechkin’s 554th Monday in Montreal that tied Maurice “Rocket” Richard.
He is the 84th player in NHL history to reach the 1,000-point plateau, doing it in his 880th game, the 37th to record 1,000 points with one team.
Braden Holtby stopped 30 shots for Washington, which improved to 27-9-5.
In other games it was: Panthers 2, Islanders 1; Canadiens 7, Jets 4; Flames 3, Sharks 2. — AP
