For Alex Ovechkin, his 890th goal of his career was not a sweet moment. In fact, it doesn’t matter to break Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record in breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record with five goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record, which isn’t important for the 39-year-old to lose 8-5 at the hands of Buffalo Sabers.
“Now, we’re losing three in a row,” Ovickin said. “It’s a good thing, not in the playoffs now, but we just have to bounce back and find a way to win the game.”
Ovechkin scored 9:11 in the third stage, deflecting Rasmus Sandin’s shot, and pulled Washington to two points by James Reimer.
Although the capital was able to kick his game out higher gear after his goal, the 39-year-old said it was the thard group that Aliaksei Protas started to inspire rallying during that period.
Watch | Ovechkin scored 890, now five from history:
Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin lost 8-5 to Buffalo Sabers, his 890th career goal and now has five goals from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL history record.
“When you score on PK, it will give you more [life] “You can see our bench. We tried to come back, but unfortunately, we can’t.”
Now, he has recovered, surpassing Gretzky’s 894 points, which has long seemed unacceptable this spring. He has 37 shots this season and is expected to reach 40 on his 14th time, the most in league history despite missing 16 games due to a ruptured left fibular bone.
Before the third-point night ended in Stage 3, Ovechkin found himself with limited ice time with the start of many defensive zones, free throw kills and top six efforts. In the first two stages, he slid for only 7:43 minutes, the lowest time on the team and ended the night with 16:22 minutes while moving to the Pierre-Luc Dubois line.
Coach Spencer Carbery said: “We’ve been fighting to keep this game and I don’t like the top six tonight, which doesn’t look good. Their base numbers didn’t work well in the last two of our top six.”
Ovechkin will continue to pursue Gretzky on Tuesday, when the capital was visiting the Boston Bruins north to the north.
