It was a relatively quiet first period for the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens Saturday night at Bell Centre in Montreal. Nic Dowd potted the period’s only tally for a 1-0 Capitals lead at the first intermission. Then things went a little crazy, again, in the middle stanza.
Anthony Mantha would score two goals in a span of just 34 seconds to briefly give the Capitals a 3-2 lead. But the Canadiens would answer just 14 seconds later to cut the Capitals lead to a single goal.
Then the Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin got into the action, scoring his 47th goal of the season. It was also his 777th career goal in the NHL.
The Capitals led 4-2 after two periods and would win the game, 8-4.
The goal marks Ovechkin’s first career goal against goaltender Sam Montembeault, the 159th goaltender Ovechkin has scored on in his career. In NHL history, 6,730 skaters have scored 159 or fewer goals in their career.
Ovechkin’s 159 goaltenders scored on ranks fourth in NHL history, only trailing Jaromir Jagr (178), Patrick Marleau (177) and Mark Messier (164). Among these players, Marleau ranks first in NHL history in games played, Messier third and Jagr fourth. Ovechkin ranks 81st.
By Jon Sorensen