Alexander Ovechkin scored his 796th goal and added an assist as the Washington Capitals defeated the visiting Seattle Kraken 4-1 Friday night.
Anthony Mantha, Marcus Johansson and Lars Eller also scored as the Capitals earned their third consecutive victory. Goaltender Charlie Lindgren, starting his third straight game for the injured Darcy Kuemper, made 25 saves.
Adam Larsson scored for Seattle, which lost its third in a row following a 12-1-1 streak. Philipp Grubauer stopped 34 of 36 shots against his former team, which he helped to a Stanley Cup championship in 2018.
Johansson, who played in 51 games for the expansion Kraken last season before being sent to Washington before the trade deadline, broke the tie at 13:15 of the second after Seattle’s Jamie Oleksiak received a match penalty for a hit to the head of the Capitals’ Alexander Alexeyev.
Ovechkin started the play, clearing the puck from the defensive zone to Johansson, who pushed the puck forward to Sonny Milano skating down the right-wing boards. Milano continued over the Kraken blue line and returned the puck to a wide-open Johansson in front of the net. His shot went off the left leg pad and catching glove of Grubauer before popping over his shoulder. Seattle defenseman Carson Soucy tried to knock the puck out of midair but missed, and it fell just beneath the crossbar and over the goal line.
Oleksiak had a tough period, as he inadvertently kicked the puck into his own net for Washington’s first goal at 5:20. Matt Irwin’s shot from the right point was blocked by Grubauer, with Mantha finding the rebound and sliding it along the ice. The puck hit a maze of players in front of the net and went off Oleksiak’s toe as he battled for position out front with Eller.
Eller scored on an empty net with 1:06 remaining and Ovechkin did the same with four seconds left. Ovechkin is five behind Gordie Howe (801) for second on the NHL goals list. Wayne Gretzky holds the record with 894.
Larsson opened the scoring at 17:51 of the first on a shot from the left point past a screened Lindgren.
–Field Level Media
