Ovechkin scores No. 650, Capitals defeat Maple Leafs
via NHL.com
Alex Ovechkin scored his 650th NHL goal for the Washington Capitals, and the Toronto Maple Leafs lost their third game in a row, 3-2 at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday.
“It’s close to playoff-style hockey (that we’re playing), but we understand right now that every point is very important,” Ovechkin said. “If you look at the standings, especially on the road, if you get a win or can get a point, it’s a good result.”
Andreas Johnsson and John Tavares scored, and Frederik Andersen made 25 saves for the Maple Leafs (36-20-4), who are 2-3-1 in their past six games and trail the Boston Bruins by four points for second place in the Atlantic Division.
“I think we did a lot of good things tonight,” Toronto center Auston Matthews said. “They scored one on the power play, and we were fine, but then they scored the second, and it kind of took a bit of life out of us and took us a bit to get it back. All in all, I think we can be pretty happy with our effort, we battled back, it just wasn’t enough.”
The Maple Leafs outshot the Capitals 12-8 in the first period and 21-7 in the third.
“They played pretty good all game. Obviously, we got a couple timely goals, but they’re a good team and they play well here,” Holtby said. “We knew it was going to be a challenge, so we’re happy to pull out two points. I feel comfortable, we’re getting on the right track and limiting extreme Grade A chances, so I’m just trying to do my job out there.”
They said it
“We didn’t get the result, but we had a lot of pucks on net, did some good things, but I think at times we didn’t sustain some of the momentum we would like. Obviously, we were playing a pretty good hockey team, but we have to find a way to get a result, find a way to get to another level and be able to capitalize on those opportunities.” — Maple Leafs center John Tavares
“It’s his hometown. I wish I play in Moscow one time with the Capitals. I’d be pumped too.” — Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin on Tom Wilson, who has four goals in his past six games in Toronto, including the Stanley Cup Playoffs
Need to know
Ovechkin trails Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan by six goals for 13th in NHL history (656). … Toronto forward Patrick Marleau played his 1,635th NHL game to tie Scott Stevens for eighth in NHL history. … Andersen played his 300th NHL game. … The Maple Leafs played without center Nazem Kadri, who missed the game after sustaining a concussion in a 3-2 overtime loss at the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.
What’s next
Capitals: At the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN, MSG-B, NBCSWA, NHL.TV)
Maple Leafs: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, CBC, SN, CITY, TVAS, NHL.TV)
Guardian of the goal.
On Oct. 20, 2013, @f_andersen30 first took the net in the @NHL. Since then, he’s amassed:
175 wins.
8,231 saves.
17,000+ minutes.Tonight, he makes his 300th career appearance. Congratulations, Frederik! #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/uOAWaMeYLd
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) February 22, 2019
Patrick Marleau is skating in the 1635th regular season game of his career tonight, tying Scott Stevens for eighth place on the NHL’s all-time games played list. #LeafsForever
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) February 22, 2019