Alex Ovechkin scores twice as the Capitals beat the Rangers 5-3

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored career goals 856 and 857 less than two minutes apart, and the Washington Capitals beat the New York Rangers 5-3 on Tuesday night in a back-and-forth showcase of the sport.

Ovechkin moved 38 away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's NHL career goals record, scoring two of the seven in the game's first 25 minutes. A furious start also included Matt Rempe fighting Dylan McIlrath in his return to the Rangers lineup, electrifying the sellout crowd mixed between home red and visiting blue.

Capitals fans went home happy as their team continued a strong start thanks to Connor McMichael's fourth goal of the season and the second by Aliaksei Protas, who had a pair of assists for a three-point night. Logan Thompson made 16 saves and Nic Dowd sealed it with an empty-netter with 35.8 seconds left.

Despite allowing four goals, Igor Shesterkin was arguably the best player on the ice in stopping 41 of the 45 shots he faced. New York got goals from Will Cuylle 58 seconds after Ovechkin's first, Chris Kreider on the power play and Filip Chytil on a deflection but could not give Shesterkin enough support.

Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun left early with what the team called an upper-body injury.

Takeaways

Rangers: Something is still off with center Mika Zibanejad, whose minutes are down.

Capitals: Ovechkin isn't slowing down at age 39 and is now on pace to tie Gretzky by the end of the season.

Key moment

Ovechkin scored on a shot Shesterkin had no chance of stopping 5:10 into the first period off a feed from Protas, and the Caps never trailed.

Key stat

Washington has gone 20 consecutive power plays without scoring, yet has won five of six games without it.

Up next

The Rangers open a three-game homestand Friday night against Ottawa, while the Capitals continue theirs Thursday night when they host Montreal.

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This story has been corrected to show that Ovechkin scored his 856th and 857th, not 855th and 856th, goals of his career on Tuesday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press