Alex Ovechkin scored his 892nd goal to move within three of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record in the Washington Capitals’ 5-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday in Raleigh, N.C.

Ovechkin scored during a five-on-three power play at 19:25 of the second period to pull the Capitals within 4-1.

Jackson Blake scored two goals while Seth Jarvis had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes (46-24-4, 96 points), who have won 12 of 14 games and clinched a Stanley Cup playoff berth with the victory. Sean Walker and Logan Stankoven also scored, Shayne Gostisbehere had two assists and Frederik Andersen made 20 saves.

Ovechkin has 39 goals in 59 games this season for Washington (48-18-9, 105 points), which has lost four of five (1-3-1) and was playing the second night of a back-to-back set. Logan Thompson allowed three goals on 12 shots before leaving with an upper-body injury after the first period. Charlie Lindgren came on to start the second and stopped 17 of 19 shots.

Carolina went 3-for-8 on the power play, Washington was 1-for-4.

The third period featured 24 penalties and a series of fights over the final 10 minutes. The teams totaled 142 penalty minutes.

Walker gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 6:14 of the first period when he scored on a wrist shot from the top of the right circle.

Blake made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 10:11 of the first, scoring from the slot on the rebound of Taylor Hall’s shot.

Jarvis made it 3-0 with a power-play goal at 13:21, scoring on a one-timer from the left circle off a pass from Gostisbehere.

Stankoven increased the lead to 4-0 at 9:27 of the second period, getting behind the defense on the rush and scoring off a pass from Jack Roslovic.

Ovechkin made it 4-1 when he scored on a one-timer from the top of the left circle off a pass from Jakob Chychrun.

Blake capped the scoring with his second power-play of the game at 6:55 of the third period. He controlled he puck off a faceoff, skated down the slot and lifted a backhander past Lindgren.

–Field Level Media