Ovechkin passes 1,000 NHL points in Capitals' win

Russian winger Alex Ovechkin scored two goals to surpass the 1,000-point mark as the Washington Capitals on Wednesday won their seventh straight with a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

"I was thinking about it before the game, everybody's here, it would be nice to get the 1000th point at home," said Ovechkin, who scored his 999th career NHL point Monday in Montreal and had his family and friends at Verizon Center arena. "It's a pretty special moment, a pretty amazing moment."

He is the 84th player in NHL history to reach the 1,000-point plateau, doing it in his 880th game, the 37th to record 1,000 points with one team.

Braden Holtby stopped 30 shots for Washington, who improved to 27-9-5. Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and three assists -- including on both Ovechkin's markers -- and T.J. Oshie also tallied three assists.

Marc-Andre Fleury made 25 saves for the Penguins, who had won five straight. Phil Kessel had two assists as Washington also improved to 14-2-2 in its past 18 games.

Source: AFP