WASHINGTON -- Alex Ovechkin scored his 877th NHL goal and the Washington Capitals lost to the Winnipeg Jets 5-4 in overtime in a matchup of the NHL’s top two teams at Capital One Arena on Saturday.
Ovechkin, who is 18 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record (894), tied the score 4-4 at 12:21 of the third period, scoring on a slap shot from just inside the blue line that went in off Connor Hellebuyck’s glove. It was Ovechkin’s 24th goal of the season.
“Two best teams playing and it was a battle,” Ovechkin said. “It was a hard game at both ends. I think in the third period we had so many chances and we go to OT and lose. It was a good game. Two best team played. It was fun.”
Josh Morrissey, who will represent Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off from Feb. 12-20, scored his second goal of the game at 1:57 of overtime for the win. Morrissey converted in front off a pass from Mark Scheifele behind the goal line.
“’Scheif’ did a good job of driving through and just tried to slip my check and go to the net and he made an amazing pass, and I had half the net to shoot at, so it was a nice play by him,” Morrissey said.
Cole Perfetti and Dylan Samberg each had a goal and an assist for the Jets (37-14-3) who have won six straight and lead the NHL with 77 points.
Scheifele, Vladislav Namestnikov and Neal Pionk each had two assists, and Hellebuyck, who will represent the United States in the 4 Nations Face-Off, made 25 saves.
“It was good, back and forth, two best teams in the League going at it,” Perfetti said. “Kind of fitting the game went to overtime. We played well -- obviously there’s a couple things, we always say that, that you can clean up -- and we want to hold that lead when we have it, but that’s a tough building to come in and play. They’re a great team, so we’re happy with that.”
Matt Roy had three assists, and Tom Wilson had a goal and an assist for the Capitals (34-11-7) who have a 13-game home point streak (9-0-4) and are second in the NHL with 75 points. Logan Thompson made 25 saves.
Perfetti gave the Jets a 1-0 lead on the power play at 9:13 of the first period. Thompson made the save on Namestnikov’s shot from the left circle on the rush, but Perfetti knocked in the rebound.
Samberg made it 2-0 at 12:41, taking a pass from Perfetti and scoring on a wrist shot from the point that deflected in off Washington forward Pierre-Luc Dubois.
Dubois pulled the Capitals within 2-1 at 1:12 of the second period, sliding the rebound home after Hellebuyck made the save on John Carlson’s shot from the slot.
“The first period wasn’t great but the rest of the game we played really well,” Dubois said. “Shot ourselves in the foot a few times and against good teams it’s in the back of your net.”
Alex Iafallo increased the Jets lead to 3-1 at 4:03 when he deflected Pionk’s point shot past Thompson.
“I was just trying to get open and hopefully the shot was coming at the time,” Iafallo said. “Neal did a great job getting at the net. Tip goals, you never know if it's going to go in or not, so luckily that one went in.”
Taylor Raddysh cut the deficit to 3-2 at 4:54, scoring from a sharp angle below the left circle.
Morrissey made it 4-2 at 1:10 of the third period, scoring on a wrist shot from the high slot off a pass from Scheifele behind the goal line.
Wilson pulled the Capitals within 4-3 at 7:26, scoring on the rebound after Hellebuyck made a pad save against Dylan Strome in front.
“I think once we got our feet under us and we started playing the right way, it was a heck of a hockey game,” Wilson said. “I think we kind of game them the first period, but after that it was two of the best teams, I think, just kind of going toe-to-toe. They made a good play there in overtime, and it made the difference.”
NOTES: Ovechkin has scored 56 goals in 74 games against the Jets/Atlanta Thrashers, the most against any opponent. … Ovechkin has six goals in his career against Hellebuyck. … Winnipeg ended an 11-game losing streak (0-7-4) in Washington, winning for the first time since Jan. 22, 2013 (4-2). … Scheifele has 60 points (31 goals, 29 assists) in 54 games, his 10th career 60-point season, which surpassed Blake Wheeler (nine) for the most in Jets/Alanta Thrashers history.
