Ovechkin gets No. 872, Capitals score 7 against Rangers

WASHINGTON -- Alex Ovechkin scored his 872nd NHL goal, moving within 23 of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record, to help the Washington Capitals to a 7-4 win against the New York Rangers at Capital One Arena on Saturday.

Ovechkin made it 5-3 at 10:50 of the third period when he scored on a backhand underneath Jonathan Quick’s right pad after the puck went off defenseman K'Andre Miller’s skate following a face-off in the Rangers zone.

Ovechkin, who also had an assist, has scored in four of five since returning from a fractured left fibula that caused him to miss 16 games. He boosted his career point total to 1,580 (872 goals, 708 assists) and moved past Ray Bourque (1,579; 410 goals, 1,169 assists) for 12th on the NHL’s all-time list.

He has 19 goals in 23 games this season.

“To be honest with you, I feel every game better,” said Ovechkin, the Washington captain. “Touches, skating-wise … I'll take it and we’ll move on.”

Dylan Strome had a goal and two assists, and Andrew Mangiapane and Tom Wilson each had a goal and an assist for the Capitals (26-10-3), who are 5-2-1 in their past eight games. Jakob Chychrun had two assists, and Logan Thompson made 29 saves.

“It just shows how good of a lineup we have top to bottom,” said forward Connor McMichael, one of their seven goal-scorers. “We don’t have one or two guys carrying the load. It’s been guys on the back end, on the fourth line, first line, whatever is. It’s been huge. It’s a credit to them and why we’re winning so many games.”

Quick allowed six goals on 27 shots and was denied his 400th NHL win for the Rangers (17-20-1), who have lost five of six and have not won consecutive games since a three-game run from Nov. 14-19.

“At some point, it must turn around because last year we won the Presidents’ Trophy, and we can play hockey. We know that,” defenseman Adam Fox said. “So, it must turn at some point, but we don’t know when. But we have to work for that, and we’ve got to keep working hard.”

Chris Kreider gave New York a 1-0 lead at 7:00 of the first period. Thompson tried to clear the puck after a dump-in, but Kreider intercepted it and scored from the high slot.

Strome tied it 1-1 during a power play at 18:46, tucking in the rebound after Quick stopped Chychrun’s shot from the point.

Lars Eller gave Washington a 2-1 lead at 2:29 of the second period, deflecting Martin Fehervary’s shot from the left point.

Mangiapane made it 3-1 at 10:08 when he scored from the bottom of the right circle off a pass across the slot from Nic Dowd.

Will Cuylle appeared to pull the Rangers within 3-2 at 13:04, but the Capitals successfully challenged that Brett Berard preceded the puck into the zone.

“That’s a frustrating point,” New York coach Peter Laviolette said. “If the goal stands, then you’re going on the power play. That’s definitely a swing.”

Sam Carrick cut it to 3-2, scoring alone in front at 16:26.

McMichael increased the lead to 4-2 at 18:13, redirecting a pass from Strome from the slot during a power play.

“Our guys did a tremendous job of responding in the second period and finding a way to flip that game, because it wasn’t looking good in the first period,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “I felt that we took over, certainly in the first half of the second period and then built the lead.”

The Capitals finished 2-for-4 on the power play; the Rangers were 0-for-4.

“I think we have to take the little things that we do well -- we're doing a lot of good things 5 on 5 -- we have to take that and build on it,” New York center Mika Zibanejad said. “That's the only way we're going to get forward.”

Filip Chytil pulled the Rangers within 4-3 at 8:32 of the third on a breakaway.

After Ovechkin’s goal made it 5-3, Zibanejad cut it to 5-4 at 13:04 off a flip pass from Reilly Smith.

But Aliaksei Protas knocked in a rebound at 14:00 to make it 6-4, and Wilson scored an empty-net goal with 38 seconds left for the 7-4 final.

“I thought we did a good job of finding a way to keep the lead,” Strome said. “Kind of a crazy game. Just goals back and forth. … It was just one of those games where it feels like everything’s going in, good and bad.”

NOTES: Washington is 6-0-2 in its past eight home games, its best run here since going 7-0-2 from Feb. 5-March 20, 2019. … Ovechkin had a game-high seven shots on goal. … Wilson also had five hits in 22:43 of ice time. … Fox was minus-3 in 27:34. … Zibanejad (302 goals) passed former Rangers forward Ulf Dahlen for seventh on the NHL’s all-time list among Swedish players.