NHL Recaps: Alex Ovechkin passes Gordie Howe on all-time goal list, Avs beat Preds, and more
The Daily Goal Horn
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NHL Recaps: December 23, 2022
The National Hockey League has reached the Holiday Break in historic fashion.
On Friday night, Alex Ovechkin put his name in the record books above Mr. Hockey, Gordie Howe by scoring goals 801 and 802.
The Great 8 did so with his family in attendance and to the adulation of the hometown Jets and their fans.
NHL Recaps: Alex Ovechkin number 2 all-time on goal list
Capitals 4 vs Jets 1
Alex Ovechkin passed Gordie Howe for second on the NHL’s all-time goals list as the Washington Capitals defeated the visiting Winnipeg Jets 4-1 on Friday.
Ovechkin scored his 801st career goal, tying Howe, at 18:22 of the first period to give Washington a 1-0 lead. He then scored his 802nd career goal, passing Howe, with an empty-netter with a minute remaining in the third period.
Ovechkin now has his sights set on Wayne Gretzky’s 894 goals, which still are the gold standard for career goals in the league.
“Very emotional,” Ovechkin said. “My parents watched it from home. My wife is here, kids here, friends. Doing it with the home crowd, it’s special. They give me full support, and this is pretty big.
“It’s a historic moment. It’s nice to be in this category of players. It’s pretty cool.”
NHL.com
Sonny Milano and Nic Dowd also scored for Washington, while Conor Sheary had two assists and Ovechkin added an assist. Charlie Lindgren made 25 saves for the victory. David Rittich stopped 23 shots in the loss while Kevin Stenlund scored for Winnipeg.
Hurricanes 6 vs Flyers 5
Jesper Fast scored two first-period goals and Carolina was on its way to a franchise-record 14th consecutive game with a point, beating Philadelphia in Raleigh, N.C.
Stefan Noesen also scored in the first period for the Hurricanes, who have won eight consecutive games. Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov, Jordan Martinook and Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored in the second period. Antti Raanta made 26 saves.
Travis Sanheim, Tony DeAngelo, Nick Seeler, Scott Laughton and Travis Konecny scored for the Flyers, who lost for the third time in four games. It was a rough NHL debut for Flyers goalie Samuel Ersson, who gave up five goals on 30 shots. He was pulled in favor of Carter Hart but returned when Hart got hurt.
Blackhawks 5 vs Blue Jackets 2
Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews each had a goal with two assists as Chicago snapped an eight-game losing streak with a victory over visiting Columbus.
Max Domi recorded a goal with an assist while Andreas Athanasiou and Taylor Raddysh also scored for the Blackhawks. Kane’s second assist on Toews’ power-play score with 7:44 remaining in regulation marked the 300th time Chicago’s superstar pair teamed up for a goal.
Marcus Bjork had a goal after assisting on rookie Kirill Marchenko’s score for the Blue Jackets, who have dropped six straight overall and lost their past six road games.
Bruins 4 vs Devils 3
David Pastrnak scored two goals to help Boston beat New Jersey in Newark, N.J., for its fourth consecutive win.
Jake DeBrusk had a goal and an assist, Patrice Bergeron also scored and David Krejci collected two assists for the Bruins. Linus Ullmark made 37 saves and raised his record to 19-1-1. He leads the NHL in wins, goals-against average (1.94) and save percentage (.936).
Jack Hughes, Tomas Tatar and Yegor Sharangovich scored goals for the Devils. Nico Hischier and Dougie Hamilton each had two assists, and Tatar added a helper.
Islanders 5 vs Panthers 1
Anthony Beauvillier opened and closed a flurry of five unanswered goals for New York, which rolled to a win over Florida in Elmont, N.Y. The first goal for Beauvillier was the 100th of his career.
Ryan Pulock scored the game-winner in the waning seconds of the middle period for the Islanders, who won for the fourth time in 12 games (4-6-2). Aatu Raty, making his NHL debut, and Zach Parise also scored for New York, and Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves.
Matthew Tkachuk scored in the first for the Panthers, who have lost three straight, all by multiple goals, and have dropped 10 of 15 (5-8-2) since Thanksgiving. Sergei Bobrovsky recorded 38 saves.
NHL Recaps: Avs beat Preds in OT
Avalanche 3 vs Predators 2 (OT)
Samuel Girard scored 4:17 into overtime and Alexandar Georgiev made 37 saves to fuel visiting Colorado to a victory over Nashville.
Mikko Rantanen collected a goal and an assist and J.T. Compher also tallied for the Avalanche, who tied a season high with their fourth straight win. Colorado’s Valeri Nichushkin sustained a lower-body injury and did not return to the contest.
Matt Duchene scored a goal in his fourth straight game, Ryan Johansen also tallied and Juuse Saros made a season-high 43 saves for the Predators. The loss was Nashville’s seventh in nine games (2-4-3).
“It would have been an easy night going into the break to probably pack it in, but it’s not what our group is all about,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “There’s a lot of excuses they could make, but they keep coming to work and finding ways to win hockey games. It’s been a great group effort, and I’m pretty proud of them to this point in the season.”
NHL.com
Canucks 5 vs Oilers 2
Bo Horvat scored twice, including the third-period, game-winning goal, in a four-point outing to lead visiting Vancouver to a comeback victory over Edmonton.
J.T. Miller tallied twice and Ilya Mikheyev added a goal for the Canucks, who scored five unanswered goals and have won seven straight road games. Conor Garland, Elias Pettersson and Tyler Myers each collected two assists, and Vancouver goaltender Collin Delia made 31 saves.
Derek Ryan and Connor McDavid scored for the Oilers, who have one win in their last five outings (1-2-2). Stuart Skinner stopped 25 shots.
Stars 4 vs Canadiens 2
Rookie Wyatt Johnston scored the go-ahead goal on the power play with five minutes remaining and Roope Hintz scored twice as Dallas rallied from a 2-0 second-period deficit to defeat visiting Montreal.
Joel Kiviranta had an empty-net goal and Jason Robertson added two assists for the Stars, who are 6-2-1 in their past nine games. Dallas’ Jake Oettinger finished with 22 saves.
Michael Pezzetta had a goal and an assist and Jake Evans also scored for the Canadiens, who are 1-4-1 in their past six. Jake Allen stopped 32 of 35 shots.
Coyotes 2 vs Kings 1 (SO)
Nick Bjugstad scored the winner in a shootout as Arizona snapped Los Angeles’ four-game winning streak with a victory in Tempe, Ariz.
Nick Schmaltz scored and Karel Vejmelka stopped 26 shots for the Coyotes, who won for just the fourth time in their past 14 games (4-7-3). Arizona snapped a three-game losing streak (0-2-1).
Alex Iafallo collected the only goal for the Kings. Jonathan Quick finished with 23 saves.
Golden Knights 5 vs Blues 4 (SO)
Mark Stone scored the winner in the fourth round of the shootout to go along with a goal and an assist and Chandler Stephenson had a goal and three assists to lead Vegas to a victory over St. Louis in Las Vegas.
Stephenson produced the fourth four-point game of his career when he tied the contest in the final two minutes. Michael Amadio had a goal and two assists and Alex Pietrangelo had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights.
“Anytime you’re trying for two, you have to have fun with it,” Stephenson said via NHL.com. “Some nights, you’re lucky.”
Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and two assists, Pavel Buchnevich had a goal and an assist and Justin Faulk and Noel Acciari also scored goals for the Blues, who concluded a 3-1-1 road trip.
Flames 3 vs Ducks 2 (OT)
Rasmus Andersson scored 2:24 into overtime, giving visiting Calgary a victory over host Anaheim.
Michael Stone and Brett Ritchie also scored for the Flames, who finished 3-0-1 on their California road trip and head into the holiday break in one of the two Western Conference wild-card spots. Calgary goaltender Jacob Markstrom made 21 saves.
Mason McTavish and Jakob Silfverberg replied for the struggling Ducks, who received a 42-save performance from Lukas Dostal. It was the fourth consecutive game in which Dostal faced at least 40 shots.
–Field Level Media