Ovechkin scores twice, passes 1,000 points as Caps beat Pens
WASHINGTON — Nothing about Alex Ovechkin the showman surprises the Washington Capitals anymore.
That Ovechkin carried them on his back with two goals as they beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 Wednesday night for their seventh consecutive victory was hardly a shock. With the thought of recording his 1,000th point in his mind before the game, Ovechkin scored a goal 35 seconds in to reach that milestone and made it 1,001 with a power-play goal later to help snap the rival Penguins’ winning streak at five.
“Every night, he plays hard, so nothing new,” said longtime linemate Nicklas Backstrom, who assisted on each of Ovechkin’s goals and had one of his own. “The only thing that was a little surprising was maybe 35 seconds. That’s all it took. But that’s typical (of) a guy like him, though.”
Ovechkin, with his usual flair for the dramatic, scored on a pretty toe-drag and wrist shot on the game’s first shift and then from his usual spot on the power play in the second period. He’s the only player to score 20 in every season since 2005-06, his rookie year.