Alex Ovechkin got his first goal of his farewell NHL season Sunday, but the Washington Capitals could not hold a first-period lead in a 5-3 loss to the Seattle Kraken at Capital One Arena.
- Ovechkin scored his 930th regular-season NHL goal, extending his League record, in his 22nd season.
- With 77 playoff goals included, Ovechkin owns 1,007 NHL goals overall. He is nine behind Wayne Gretzky’s 1,016 combined regular-season and playoff goals.
- The 41-year-old had been held without a goal through Washington’s first four games after missing preseason action with a lower-body injury suffered in training camp.
- Ovechkin had a similar delayed start last season, also scoring his first goal in Game 5 after a lower-body issue interrupted camp.
- Center Pierre-Luc Dubois missed the game because of illness.
- With Dubois out, Ovechkin moved away from regular center Dylan Strome and skated with Aliaksei Protas on the left side and rookie Ilya Protas at center.
- Aliaksei and Ilya Protas assisted on Ovechkin’s goal, the first time brothers have set him up for a goal.
- Seattle starter Joey Daccord became the 190th different NHL goaltender Ovechkin has scored against, another League record.
Ovechkin had been building toward the breakthrough. He generated two of Washington’s better scoring looks in Friday’s 3-1 win over the New York Rangers, then narrowly missed from the high slot on an early power play Sunday.
At 16:47 of the opening period, the Protas brothers put the puck on Ovechkin’s stick in the crease area. Daccord left the puck behind his net for defenseman Ryker Evans, but Aliaksei Protas forced a turnover on the forecheck and knocked Evans’ attempted pass toward Ilya Protas near the bottom of the right circle. Ilya found Ovechkin in front, and the captain snapped the puck past Daccord’s glove for a 2-1 Washington lead.
“Training camp did not go the way I wanted,” Ovechkin said. “But as the games go on, you find your touch and your rhythm. The last two games, we have had good chances, and we scored.”
Washington coach Spencer Carbery said one goal can often become a productive stretch for Ovechkin, who announced Monday that this will be his final NHL season.
“When he gets on the scoresheet, that is a positive,” Carbery said. “Once he feels confident and the puck starts going in, it can build quickly. He has done that throughout his career, where one goal turns into a 10-, 12- or 15-game run.”
The new line gave Washington a solid first period, though it was caught on the ice when Jordan Eberle tied the game 2-2 with 11 seconds remaining in the frame. Seattle took over much of the second period and moved ahead 3-2 on Frederick Gaudreau’s goal at 13:24.
Carbery began mixing his combinations later in the middle period in search of momentum, but he liked the sequence that put Ovechkin and the Protas brothers on the board. Aliaksei and Ilya had not recorded a point since each collected an assist in Washington’s 5-2 opening-night win against the Carolina Hurricanes.
“They got a big goal for themselves,” Carbery said. “They created the turnover and attacked fast. We were also looking for anything that could create some momentum, so we moved pieces around.”
Boone Jenner pulled the Capitals even 46 seconds into the third period, but the response did not last. Jared McCann scored off the rush at 14:33 to put Seattle ahead 4-3, and Ryan Winterton sealed the Kraken victory on a breakaway at 17:20.
Washington fell to 3-2-0. Seattle improved to 4-2-0.
“The third started well and we had momentum,” Ovechkin said. “We did not play well in the second, but the response was good. We will learn from it.”
