VANCOUVER — Alex Ovechkin scored twice to pass Wayne Gretzky for the most road goals in NHL history, and the Washington Capitals defeated the Vancouver Canucks 5-1 at Rogers Arena on Tuesday.
Ovechkin opened the scoring from the right side of the net after a Quinn Hughes Giveaway at 5:35 of the first period to tie the record with 402 road goals. He passed Gretzky and made it 2-0 with a one-timer from the top left hash mark at 11:52 that went under the blocker-side arm of Spencer Martin.
Anthony Mantha had a goal and an assist Darcy Kuemper made 31 saves for the Capitals (10-11-3), who ended a six-game road losing streak. Washington has won three of their past four games overall.
Martin made 23 saves for the Canucks (9-11-3), who failed to extend a season-best three-game winning streak.
Ovechkin’s first goal was his 135th game-opening goal, tying Jaromir Jagr for the most in NHL history. His second put him at 793 for his career, eight behind Gordie Howe for second on the NHL’s all-time goal list and gave Ovechkin 160 multi-goal games in his career, second only to Gretzky (189).
Nils Hoglander pulled the Canucks within 2-1 at 13:55. Mantha replied 40 seconds later after being left alone atop the crease between three defenders to take a pass from Marcus Johansson out of the corner, shooting past Martin’s blocker to make it 3-1 at 14:35.
John Carlson made it 4-1 at 18:47 of the second period with a chip shot from the bottom left hash mark, and Martin Fehervary scored into an empty net with 4:03 left in the third for the 5-1 final.
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