Alex Ovechkin brings early offense in Capitals’ road win over Canucks
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Ovechkin brings early offense in Caps’ road win over Canucks originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The Capitals jumped out to an early lead over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday behind a multi-goal performance from Alex Ovechkin and never gave it up, beating the Bruce Boudreau-led Pacific Division foes 5-1 on the road.
Ovechkin scored the first two goals of the game in the opening 12 minutes. Winger Anthony Mantha and defensemen John Carlson and Martin Fehervary added to their lead later to lead Washington to a comfortable win as goaltender Darcy Kuemper stopped 31 of 32 shots on the other end.
Vancouver carried a three-game winning streak into the contest but was playing its third game in four days. The Canucks started backup goalie Spencer Martin, who had won six of his last seven decisions despite some uneven performances.
The win marked the Capitals’ third in their last four games, pushing them up 10-11-3 on the season with 23 points toward the Metropolitan Division standings.
Here are three takeaways from the Capitals’ win over the Canucks.
Ovechkin makes history in opening period
The milestones keep on coming for Ovechkin, who scored the first two tallies of the game to tie and move past Wayne Gretzky for the most road goals in NHL history.
Ovechkin’s first goal marked his 402nd career score away from home. The 37-year-old took advantage of a Canucks turnover behind the net and forced the puck past Vancouver goalie Spencer Martin to give Washington the early lead.
Martin became the newest victim to allow an Ovechkin goal, the 165th since the Capitals winger entered the league in 2005. That surpassed Mark Messier (164) for the third most goalies scored against in league history.
He didn’t wait long to score another, either. Ovechkin beat Martin with a one-timer from the left circle on a pass by center Dylan Strome six minutes later.
With his second multi-goal game of the season — both against the Canucks — Ovechkin pushed his NHL career total up…
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