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Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin ties NHL record for career power-play goals
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- Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin ties NHL record for career power-play goals
Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin tied an NHL record Wednesday as he continues his long-term pursuit of the career goal-scoring mark.
He scored the 274th power-play goal of his career during a 5-4 overtime loss to the Chicago Blackhawks to tie Dave Andreychuk's league record. He has played 412 fewer games than Andreychuk, who finished his career during Ovechkin's NHL debut season in 2005-06
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"He's a special player," Andreychuk told reporters last month. "We all have watched him over the years. Playing against him, he's no different now than he was then. … For all of us now as hockey fans, he's fun to watch."
The record-tying goal came at 3:36 of the second period as he fired a pass from T.J. Oshie to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead. The second assist went to Nicklas Backstrom (hip), who was playing his first game of the season and helped the Capitals end a six-game drought with the man advantage.
The goal was Ovechkin's 25th against Marc-Andre Fleury , his most against any goalie.
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Limited to a career-low 24 goals last season by a shortened season, injuries and a stint on the COVID-19 protocol list, Ovechkin has taken off in 2021-22 with 21 goals in 29 games.
He added an assist on Conor Sheary 's tying goal in the final seconds of the third period to give him 46 points for the league lead.
Ovechkin, 36, also has continued his ascent toward the top of the all-time goals list, moving past fifth-place Marcel Dionne (731) on opening night and passing Brett Hull (741) on Nov. 12 . With 751 career goals, he needs 16 to pass No. 3 Jaromir Jagr (766).
The top two are Wayne Gretzky (894) and Gordie Howe (801), and Ovechkin signed a five-year contract last summer, giving him ample time to become the league's all-time best.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Alex Ovechkin: Capitals star ties NHL power-play goal record
