Ovechkin Ties Gordie HoweS Arena Goal Record in Capitals‘ 7-4 Victory Over Oilers
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Alexโฃ Ovechkin etched his name further into NHL history Thursday night, scoring his 480th goal at Capital One Arena (regular season adn playoffs) and tying gordie Howe (480 at the Detroit Olympia) for the moast goals scored โin a single arena in League history. The milestone came โขas the Washington Capitals defeated the Edmonton Oilers 7-4.
Ryan Leonard led the offensive charge with his frist career two-goal game, supported by contributions from connor McMichael, John Carlson (both with โฃthree assists), Tom Wilson (twoโ empty-net goals), Aliaksei โฃProtas, and anthony Beauvillier. For edmonton,โ Darnell Nurse scored twice, with Leon Draisaitl and David Thomas adding โgoals, but the Oilers โขwereโฃ unableโข to overcome a strong โขCapitals performance and a challenging night for goaltender Stuart Skinner. Connor โคMcDavid registered twoโ pointsโ in the loss.
Ovechkin, 40, alsoโ extended his scoring streak to โthree games, becoming the first player age 40 or older to achieve the feat since Matt Cullen in December 2016. Heโฃ continues hisโ THE GR8โข CHASE forโค Victoryโฃ Over Cancer initiative, โpersonallyโ donating to pediatric โcancer research for every regular season goal โhe โฃscores.
Leonard’s โmulti-goal โperformance marked the first by a Capitals player โคage 20 or younger since โAndre Burakovsky on January 27, 2016. Notably, โคLeonard was a member of the Capitals team when Ovechkin surpassed Wayne Gretzky’s all-timeโค goal record and received โขcongratulations from Gretzky after scoring his first NHLโ goal.
(Source: โขNHL/YouTube)