Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin scores 500th goal

In St. Paul, Minnesota, Jon Merrill put New Jersey ahead in the third period with his first goal of the season, Cory Schneider made 17 saves and the Devils beat the Wild. He drew another roar while waving to fans from the bench.

“It’s a great feeling, obviously, to do it in front of our fans”, Ovechkin said. “It’s huge. It’s pretty cool”.

“It’s a history moment”.

Jonathan Toews had a goal and two assists and Brandon Mashinter scored his second career goal for the Blackhawks, who have won 18 of 23 home games in regulation time. “Of course when you play, it’s fun time. “O” didn’t know about it but we wanted to be out there and celebrate with him”. “It’s a big moment for him and the city of Washington”.

Only four players in National Hockey League history have scored 500 goals faster than Ovechkin, per StatsCentre. “I think we deserved at least a point today and we got two”. The Panthers eclipsed the previous records held by the 1926-27 Montreal Canadiens and 2009-10 Ottawa Senators, who each had 11-game win streaks following a season when they failed to reach the playoffs.

Since he joined the league in 2005, Ovechkin has established himself as one of the best pure goal scorers the NHL has ever seen.

Washington has won four straight overall and 10 straight home games.

The Washington Capitals played a tribute video for their captain after he scored his 500th goal.

A special congratulations to Ottawa Senators netminder, Andrew Hammond, for being on the wrong end of history.

Justin Williams started the scoring with is 13th of the season at 8:07 of the first.

Red Wings 2, Ducks 1 • In Anaheim, Calif., Riley Sheahan scored with 3:44 remaining in the third period to give Detroit its fifth straight win. This was a historic night, and Ovechkin saw this as something he and the Capitals accomplished together.

Mike Hoffman had Ottawa’s lone goal.