Alex Ovechkin scored his 879th career goal as the visiting Washington Capitals nipped the slumping Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 on Thursday night.

Ovechkin now needs 16 tallies to pass Wayne Gretzky for the most goals in NHL history, but he needed plenty of help in his one from Lars Eller and Jakob Chychrun, whose third-period goals lifted Washington to its second straight victory.

The Capitals trailed 3-2 entering the third period until Eller tied it at 6:23 from the high slot with a perfect shot into the top-right corner.

Chychrun supplied the go-ahead tally with 7:55 remaining in the contest. John Carlson sent a cross-ice pass to Chychrun in the left circle, and his one-timer beat Ivan Fedotov on the short side.

Matvei Michkov scored twice for Philadelphia — and he nearly completed his first career hat trick with a “Michigan-style” goal early in the third period, only for Washington’s Charlie Lindgren to make the save. Tyson Foerster also scored for the Flyers, who have lost five games in a row.

Foerster had several chances in front of the net in the waning seconds, as he took several futile whacks at the puck amid a scramble as the final horn sounded.

Lindgren made 19 saves for the Capitals, while Fedotov stopped 14 shots for the Flyers.

Michkov opened the scoring late in the first period as he skated in on a breakaway and snapped a shot inside the left post.

The lead didn’t last long, however, as Ovechkin tied it less than two minutes. Martin Fehervary made a nice centering pass to the Russian superstar, who banged it past Fedotov for his 51st career goal against the Flyers — matching his most against any team (Carolina Hurricanes).

Connor McMichael put Washington in front early in the second period, but Foerster drew the hosts even about three minutes later.

The Flyers then took a 3-2 lead on a tic-tac-toe goal in which Rodrigo Abols set up Michkov’s tap-in on the doorstep with a beautiful slap pass.

–Field Level Media