Alex Ovechkin scored his 858th career goal and had two assists, and the Washington Capitals beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-3 on Thursday night to continue their strong start.

Ovechkin is now 37 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record. After making Cayden Primeau the 176th different goaltender he’s scored against, Ovechkin is on pace to score 45 this season, which would put him at 895 and perhaps beyond this spring.

Before scoring with 7:33 remaining in the third period, Ovechkin scored on goals by Tom Wilson and Aliaksei Protas.

Wilson ended an 0-for-22 power play drought with his team-best sixth goal of the season.

Brandon Duhaime and Jakub Vrana scored within a minute of each other, and new father Connor McMichael also had a goal for the Capitals, who improved to 7-2-0.

They last won seven of their first nine games in 2015-16.

Montreal’s Cole Caufield scored his 10th to tie New Jersey captain Nico Hischier for the league lead.

Brendan Gallagher and Nick Suzuki scored the other goals for the Canadiens and Primeau stopped 28 shots.

Takeaways

Canadians: After coach Martin St. Louis shuffled his lines following an 8-2 home loss to Seattle, this was a better effort.

It also helped return defenders Kaiden Guhle and Justin Barrow from injury.

Capitals: The sample size is no longer too small.

It’s natural to think the Caps are playoff contenders after several offseason additions.

Key moment: Charlie Lindgren made the bulk of his 13 saves, denying Caufield a long penalty in the third period after Washington took a 5-3 lead.

Key statistic: The Capitals have scored three or more goals in eight of their nine games.

Following : The Capitals will host Columbus on Saturday and the Canadiens will visit Pittsburgh.

— This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on October 31, 2024.