Ovechkin Eyes First Goal as Capitals Welcome Kraken

Sunday’s three-game NHL slate puts a milestone chase, a sudden crease crisis in New York and a winless Philadelphia club under the rink lights. The nationally televised Hurricanes-Flyers matchup closes the night, while Alex Ovechkin returns home still looking for his first goal of what is expected to be his final NHL season.

Ovechkin back at Capital One Arena

The Washington Capitals bring a 3-1-0 record into their 5 p.m. ET meeting with the Seattle Kraken at Capital One Arena. Ovechkin, 41, enters the game with 929 career goals, the highest total in NHL history, but has yet to score this season.

Even after turning 40, the Capitals captain has remained a dangerous finisher. His 32 goals in 86 games since that birthday work out to 0.37 per game, second among NHL players in that age range with at least 10 games played. Gordie Howe posted a 0.38 rate, scoring 113 times in 295 games after 40.

Seattle has been one of Ovechkin’s more productive opponents. He owns six goals and seven assists in 10 games against the Kraken, a 1.30 points-per-game pace. Among teams he has faced, only Utah, Minnesota and Winnipeg have yielded a better rate, with St. Louis level with Seattle.

There is another Capitals record within reach, too. Ovechkin has 759 assists and needs four more to move past Nicklas Backstrom’s franchise-leading 762.

Seattle’s offense arrives hot

The Kraken, 3-2-0, have come out firing with 21 goals in five games, a 4.20 average that trails only Colorado and Edmonton in the early League scoring race. That is a sharp turn from last season, when Seattle’s 2.73 goals per game ranked 28th.

Seattle has hit six goals in three of its first five outings. Jared McCann leads the way with a goal and five assists, while 13 Kraken skaters have reached at least three points.

Garand takes over in New York

Dylan Garand gets his second start of the season when the New York Rangers host the Vancouver Canucks at Madison Square Garden at 6 p.m. ET. The Rangers are down both of their established NHL goaltenders after Igor Shesterkin suffered a lower-body injury at 8:20 of the second period in Friday’s 3-1 loss in Washington. Shesterkin will miss the remainder of the season.

Joonas Korpisalo is also sidelined by a lower-body injury and is expected to be out for four weeks. That puts the net in Garand’s hands for New York, which enters at 4-2-0.

The 24-year-old was a fourth-round selection, No. 103 overall, in the 2020 NHL Draft and spent four seasons with Hartford in the American Hockey League. He made 22 saves for his first NHL shutout in a 2-0 victory at Detroit on Oct. 2.

Vancouver arrives at 2-4-0 after falling 4-1 to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.

Philadelphia seeks a breakthrough against Carolina

The Flyers have six games behind them without a victory and return home at 0-4-2 to face the Carolina Hurricanes at Xfinity Mobile Arena at 7 p.m. ET. Philadelphia is expected to use Joseph Woll in net on the second half of a back-to-back after Dan Vladar stopped 27 shots in Saturday’s 5-1 loss at Boston.

Goals have been difficult to find for the Flyers. Their seven goals are the fewest in the NHL, leaving them at 1.17 per game.

Carolina, meanwhile, has recovered from an 0-2 start and can make it five straight wins. The Hurricanes are 4-1-1 following a 5-2 victory in Chicago on Saturday, where Brandon Bussi made 24 saves.

Sebastian Aho carries a five-game point streak into Philadelphia with five goals and four assists. Jackson Blake has also produced in each of the past five games, collecting one goal and six assists. Pyotr Kochetkov is the likely Carolina starter.

The Hurricanes swept Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference Second Round last spring before continuing on to win the Stanley Cup.

Sunday NHL schedule