Alex Ovechkin scored his 892nd career goal, moving him three away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record, but rookie Jackson Blake scored twice to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Washington Capitals 5-1 on Wednesday night and clinch a playoff spot.
Logan Stankoven, Seth Jarvis and Sean Walker also scored for the Hurricanes, who qualified for the playoffs for a seventh consecutive season. That matches a franchise record.
Frederik Andersen stopped 20 of 21 shots to win his seventh straight start for Carolina.
Ovechkin beat Andersen with a one-timer with Washington on a 5-on-3 power play with 34.5 seconds left in the second to cut Carolina’s lead to 4-1. Ovechkin has 17 goals in the past 25 games and has 39 this season.
Washington goalie Logan Thompson gave up three goals in the first before he left the game at intermission with an upper-body injury and was replaced by Charlie Lindgren, who made 18 saves.
WATCH | Ovechkin scores his 892nd NHL goal:
Ovechkin scores his 892nd career goal, now only 3 goals shy of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record
