Ovechkin scores 786th NHL goal for Capitals in loss to Red Wings

DETROIT --Alex Ovechkin scored his 786th NHL goal and tied Gordie Howe for the most with one team when the Washington Capitals lost 3-1 to the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday.

Ovechkin made it 1-0 when he beat Husso with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle at 7:11 of the second period.
"It's pretty cool to do it here, although I would have rather been able to break it here," said Ovechkin, who scored his record-tying goal about three miles from the site of the Olympia, where Howe scored his 786th goal for Detroit on Apr. 3, 1971. "It's a great accomplishment."

Andrew Copp and Dylan Larkin each had a goal and an assist, and Ville Husso made 33 saves for the Red Wings (5-3-2).
"I thought the guys played a great game in front of me," Husso said. "They were blocking shots and they got a great kill at the end of the game. They made my night easy."
Detroit was coming off an 8-3 loss at the Buffalo Sabres on Monday.
"I think the biggest adjustment we made was just defending better," Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. "When we're only giving up nine or 10 chances, it gives us our best chance to succeed, because we still weren't very good with the puck."

Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves for the Capitals (5-4-2), who have lost three in a row (0-1-2).
"We've been in every game - we're giving ourselves a chance, which is what you want to do," Kuemper said. "If we keep playing this way, outcomes will start coming our way."
Lucas Raymond tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 14:58 of the second off a feed from Dominik Kubalik.
"I thought that was huge, because both teams are depleted, which doesn't leave much margin for error," Lalonde said. "In games like that, special teams are often the difference."

The Red Wings were without forwards Tyler Bertuzzi (upper-body injury) and Robby Fabbri (knee); the Capitals were missing defenseman John Carlson (lower body), and forwards T.J. Oshie (lower body), Nicklas Backstrom (hip), Connor Brown (knee) and Tom Wilson (knee).
Detroit appeared to take a 2-1 lead at 17:42 on Larkin's rebound, but David Perron was ruled to have interfered with Kuemper.
Copp scored his first goal with the Red Wings at 16:10 of the third period, tapping Adam Erne's pass under Kuemper to make it 2-1.
"I got off to a slow start in the goal column, but maybe this will open the floodgates," he said. "I thought we battled and made the kind of desperate plays you need in a game like this."
Larkin scored an empty-net goal with 28 seconds left for the 3-1 final.
NOTES: Ovechkin has 36 points (23 goals, 13 assists) in 31 career games against the Red Wings. … Gordie Howe's son, Mark Howe, attended the game as part of the 25th anniversary celebration for the 1997 Red Wings, who ended their 42-year championship drought.