Ovechkin scores No. 884 for Capitals in loss to Lightning

WASHINGTON -- Alex Ovechkin scored his 884th NHL goal, but the Tampa Bay Lightning extended their season-high winning streak to eight games with a 3-1 victory against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Saturday.

Ovechkin scored on a wrist shot through a screen at 16:01 of the third period to cut it to 2-1. The forward, who needs 11 goals to pass Wayne Gretzky (894) for first in League history, has 31 in 44 games this season -- including five in his past five games -- with 22 games remaining.

“He’s finishing at a real high rate coming out of the break,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “And I think his play and chemistry and the whole product of our group, whether that’s his line or the power play, will continue to improve.”

Mitchell Chaffee, Gage Goncalves and Brandon Hagel scored for the Lightning (35-20-4), and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves.

“That's the way we've got to play,” Tampa Bay captain Victor Hedman said. “Defense wins championships. It's a long way from that, but obviously playing this way, you've got to feel comfortable playing in a 1-0 game. It's fun.”

Logan Thompson made 16 saves for the Capitals (38-14-8), who have lost three in a row for the first time this season.

“It’s three games,” Washington forward Tom Wilson said. “We don’t like it, but we’ve had a consistent year, so there’s going to be ups and downs.

“We’re not panicking right now. We love the group in here and we’ve just got to find a way to get back on track.”

The Capitals appeared to take a 1-0 lead at 5:40 of the first period when Jakob Chychrun scored from the point, but the Lightning successfully challenged that Chychrun played the puck with a high stick earlier in the sequence.

Chafee gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead on a power play at 17:11 when he scored from the bottom of the left circle on a rebound of Brayden Point’s shot.

“Obviously, they're a tremendous team,” Chafee said. “We come into this game, and we knew it's going to be tight. It's going to be a hard-checking game, and that's what it was. And it's capitalizing on your chances.”

Less than a minute after Vasilevskiy stopped Aliaksei Protas on a breakaway, Goncalves made it 2-0 at 6:08 of the third period when he scored on a wrist shot through a screen from the top of the slot.

Vasilevskiy came within 3:59 of his second straight shutout and fifth of the season; he made 28 saves in a 3-0 win against the Calgary Flames on Friday. Vasilevskiy is 9-0-1 with a 1.61 goals-against average, a .947 save percentage and two shutouts in his past 10 starts.

“Just defending well in our own zone, letting ‘Vasy’ see the puck,” said Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who blocked five shots in 21:44 of ice time. “Obviously if there are breakdowns, he's been playing huge for us.”

Hagel scored an empty-net goal with 59 seconds remaining for the 3-1 final.

“I don’t think we played bad this game,” said Ovechkin, the Capitals captain. “We just have to bounce back right away. Next game (home against the Ottawa Senators on Monday), we just have to respond.”

NOTES: Tampa Bay is the third team this season to win at least eight games in a row; the Winnipeg Jets have done so twice (11, eight), and the Carolina Hurricanes (eight) once. … Hagel extended his point streak to eight games (14 points; eight goals, six assists). … Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov got his 60th assist of the season; he is second in the League in that category behind Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (68). … Ovechkin has 53 goals in his past 79 games since Feb. 5, 2024, when the NHL resumed play after the All-Star Game last season. Only Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl has more in that span (62). … Washington center Nic Dowd won 10 of 12 face-offs (83.3 percent).