802: Ovechkin Passes Howe, Capitals Handle Jets

WASHINGTON —  Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin saw the empty net waiting against the Winnipeg Jets, on the verge of history with the fans chanting his name after he picked up his 801st goal earlier in the night. He chose to pass to Evgeny Kuznetsov, who gave it right back to the captain, who made no mistake, picking up his 802nd career goal.

Those two goals, and two more tallies from Sonny Milano and Nic Dowd, led to a 4-1 victory over the Jets.

Here are all the takeaways from the win:

Alex Ovechkin Passes Gordie Howe For Second On NHL's All-Time Goals List, Stays Hot

At 18:22 of the first period, Ovechkin's snapshot beat Rittich to make it 1-0 for Washington. It marked his 21st goal of the season and also puts him 94 shy from breaking Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record, as No. 99 is the only player Ovechkin has to catch now.

With the strike, Ovechkin also has points in nine of his last 10 games. Strome and Conor Sheary would pick up the assists on the historic strike.

Rittich also marks the 166th different goaltender that Ovechkin has scored on in his career. Ovechkin later added an assist, marking his second consecutive multi-point outing. He is up to 40 points this season.

The 37-year-old passed Howe with an empty netter in the third, and it was a pretty goal: a no-look ENG.

The game stopped after that, as the Washington bench cleared to celebrate Ovechkin — followed by the Jets bench, where all the players came out to shake Ovechkin's hand.

He now has 53 goals and 45 assists for 98 points in 71 career games against Winnipeg/Atlanta, which marks the most he has against a single team in his 18-year NHL career.

And now, there's only Wayne Gretzky to catch, and 93 more goals needed to cement a legacy as the greatest goal scorer in NHL history.

Sonny Milano, Nic Dowd Find Twine Again, Power Play Struggles

The power play didn't have a good night against Winnipeg, who has the seventh-best penalty kill in the league.

There were several turnovers and trouble keeping it in the zone, from broken-up passes to rough setups. The urgency seemed to pick up in the latter half of the game, as sustained pressure after one opportunity led to a nice goal from Sonny Milano camped out in front

Ultimately, though, the power play went 0-for-4.

Then, early in the third, Nic Dowd would find twine with his third goal in as many games, firing a quick shot past Rittich after a great give-and-go with Garnet Hathaway. It marked his eighth goal of the season.

Charlie Lindgren Comes In Clutch Again, Capitals Play Disciplined

Unlike Thursday, Washington played disciplined hockey and didn't get caught up in emotions or take costly penalties. The Capitals killed off a couple of penalties with ease and were all over the Jets, shutting them down and keeping their stars at bay.

Charlie Lindgren also had another strong outing for his eighth win in nine starts. He stopped 25 of 26 shots (.962 save percentage) and came up with some clutch stops.

Washington Capitals Lose John Carlson To Injury

The team didn't leave completely unscathed, though. Early in the third period, John Carlson was in Brenden Dillon's shooting lane and took his former teammate's slapshot to the right side of his face. He went down immediately and started bleeding profusely from his face onto the ice.

His teammates quickly got him assistance as he made it to the bench and down the tunnel with the trainers. He did not return and was transported to a hospital for precautionary evaluation.

More Washington Capitals Ice Chips

– Conor Sheary picked up two assists and now has 10 points in his last 12 games.

– Garnet Hathaway led the team with three hits.

– Nick Jensen didn't play the majority of the second but returned for the third, so it appears he's fine. He was hurting a bit after blocking a shot in the third, though.

– Erik Gustafsson picked up an assist and is now on a four-game point streak, with seven points over that span.