Washington’s Alex Ovechkin scored his 897th NHL goal, but the visiting Capitals dropped their season finale 5-2 to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night.
Ovechkin fired in a one-timer from above the right circle at 16:56 during a second-period power play to pull the Capitals within 3-2. The 39-year-old veteran finished the season with 44 goals in 64 games, and he broke the NHL’s all-time goal-scoring record with No. 895 on April 6.
Bryan Rust scored twice and Sidney Crosby and Philip Tomasino each had a goal and an assist for the Penguins (34-36-12, 80 points), who will miss the playoffs for the third straight season. Alex Nedeljkovic made 18 saves.
Pittsburgh finished with an average of less than one point per game for the first time in coach Mike Sullivan’s nine plus seasons.
Connor McMichael scored for the Capitals (51-22-9, 111 points), who will be the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs entering their opening game against the Montreal Canadiens on Monday. Clay Stevenson stopped 33 shots in his NHL debut.
McMichael opened the scoring at 4:08 of the first period. Tom Wilson and McMichael entered the zone two-on-one and Nedeljkovic made the save on Wilson, but McMichael knocked in the rebound.
Rust tied it 46 second later when he knocked in the long rebound of Ville Koivunen’s shot.
Rust put Pittsburgh up 2-1 with a power-play goal at 7:19 of the second period, scoring at the left post off a behind-the-back pass across the crease from Crosby.
Dylan Strome appeared to tie the score 2-2 in the second period, but the Capitals were offside on the zone entry.
Crosby made it 3-1 at 11:56 of the middle frame, scoring on a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle off a pass from Tomasino. Crosby finished the season with 91 points (33 goals, 58 assists).
The Penguins pulled away with two goals in a 15-second span of the third period. Danton Heinen made it 4-2 when he scored a breakaway goal at 8:46 just as Pittsburgh finished killing a power play. Tomasino made it 5-2 at 9:01, scoring from the slot on a three-on-one rush.
–Field Level Media
