Ovechkin scores goal No. 879, Capitals rally past Flyers

PHILADELPHIA -- Alex Ovechkin scored his 879th NHL goal and the Washington Capitals rallied for a 4-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday.

Ovechkin scored on a one-timer from the inside edge of the right face-off circle at 19:07 of the first period to move within 16 goals of passing Wayne Gretzky's NHL record of 894. Ovechkin has scored in four straight games and has 26 goals on the season.

"You become a little bit numb to it, but you still, after games, you take a step back and go, this is just incredible how he continues to score at this level, at the age he's at (39)," Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. "We just enjoy it, and we're glad he's on our side. It's exciting, and it brings a lot of energy to our team, teammates, coaching staff, to watch what he's doing and continuing to find ways to put pucks in the back of the net."

Jakob Chychrun scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, and Connor McMichael and Lars Eller also scored for Washington (36-11-7), which extended its point streak to five games (3-0-2). Charlie Lindgren made 19 saves.

Matvei Michkov scored two goals for Philadelphia (23-26-7), which lost for the seventh time in eight games (1-6-1). Tyson Foerster also scored, and Ivan Fedotov made 14 saves.

"They're a good team," Foerster said. "They're first in the League I'm pretty sure. Thought we played a [heck] of a game. Just a couple breaks here and there."

The Capitals were down 3-2 entering the third period, but rallied for their fifth win when trailing entering the third period (5-7-4), tied for the fifth-most in the NHL. They lead the NHL with 18 comeback wins.

"It's the same story as the whole year, where we come in and we're all looking at each other like we're going to find a way to get this done," Lindgren said. "Sure enough, that's what we did."

Eller tied it at 6:23 with a shot from the top of the left face-off circle.

Chychrun scored the winner at 12:05 on a shot from the left face-off circle, set up by a pass from John Carlson from the right point.

"Just a great pass from 'Carly,'" Chychrun said. "Tried to make eye contact with him and had my stick up in the air, was kind of letting him know I was open. He had to thread it, and he sure did. Great play by him."

Michkov put the Flyers ahead 1-0 at 17:31 of the first period when he scored on a breakaway.

Ovechkin's goal tied it 1-1. It gave him 1,590 points, tied with Phil Esposito for 11th in NHL history.

"It's really cool getting to be a part of his chase," Chychrun said. "It's been really special for us as a group to kind of see, how big of an accomplishment it could be for him to do what he's doing. We're pulling for him, and he continues to score, continues to produce for us, and it's been a lot of fun."

McMichael put the Capitals ahead 2-1 at 4:17 of the second period when he redirected an Aliaksei Protas pass past Fedotov.

Foerster tipped a shot by Emil Andrae for a power-play goal that tied the game 2-2 at 7:23. The Flyers had been 0-for-10 with the man-advantage in five games.

"It felt good," Foerster said. "'Email' [Andrae] and 'TK' [Travis Konecny, who will represent Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off] made a good play. That's what we pre-scouted, take one-timers and I was just lucky enough to tip it."

Michkov put the Flyers ahead 3-2 at 11:19 when he tapped in a seam pass by Rodrigo Abols.

The rookie had a chance for a lacrosse-style goal at 4:15 of the third period but Lindgren was able to make the save.

"There was a pre-scout this morning on him doing a similar thing," Lindgren said. "I saw him get it on his stick, and I said, 'Oh boy, I better climb this post here.' Pretty impressive. I thought he was the best player on the ice tonight. He was all over the place, making plays. Obviously a heck of a talent. He's going to be a fun one to watch in this league for a long time."

NOTES: Fedotov is the 180th goalie Ovechkin has scored against. ... Ovechkin has 34 goal streaks of at least four games, tied with Mario Lemieux for the most in NHL history. ... Ovechkin's goal was his 35th against a team coached by John Tortorella, the most he's scored against any opposing NHL coach. ... Michkov had his third two-goal game of the season. ... Capitals forward Taylor Raddysh had two assists. ... Carlson's assist on Chychrun's goal gave him points in five straight games (five assists), matching his season-long streak. ... Capitals forward Dylan Strome had an assist on Ovechkin's goal to give him six points (three goals, three assists) during a five-game point streak.