Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin scored two goals in the first period Tuesday night, setting another NHL record along the way.
Ovechkin’s tallies against the Vancouver Canucks were the 402nd and 403rd on the road in his 18-year career, passing Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky for the most on visiting ice in NHL history.
It also marked Ovechkin’s second multigoal game this season and 160th of his career. Only Gretzky, who retired with 189, has more multigoal games in NHL history.
Beating Vancouver goaltender Spencer Martin for the first time in his career, Ovechkin, 37, opened the scoring with an unassisted goal at 5:35 into the period. He followed that up at the 11:52 mark with his 13th goal of the season. That tally was assisted by forwards Dylan Strome and Anthony Mantha. Washington led 3-1 after the first period.
Earlier this month, Ovechkin set the NHL record for most goals scored with one franchise, netting his 787th career tally with the Capitals, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Gordie Howe’s career total with the Detroit Red Wings. The record-breaking goal came on home ice in a 3-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Nov. 5.
The Capitals have struggled this season in a clogged Eastern Conference, but their woes have not slowed Ovechkin. He entered Tuesday night as the team’s leading scorer with 21 points, and his 20:57 time-on-ice average was tops among Washington forwards.
The Capitals entered the game, having won two of their past three.