Ovechkin scores No. 871 in Capitals shootout loss to Wild

WASHINGTON -- Alex Ovechkin scored his 871st NHL goal, moving within 24 of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record, but the Washington Capitals lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Minnesota Wild at Capital One Arena on Thursday.

Ovechkin tied it 2-2 with a power-play goal at 15:08 of the second period, scoring on a wrist shot through traffic from above the left circle.

“We needed some momentum from that four-minute power play and there wasn’t a lot going on,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “And the next thing you know he sort of steps off the wall and it got the building alive.”

Ovechkin has scored in three of his four games since returning from a fractured left fibula, which caused him to miss 16 games. He has 18 goals in 22 games this season.

“When you miss so many games you just try to take short shifts, kind of play hard every game, every shift, feel the puck,” Ovechkin said. “But sometimes those nights maybe you don’t have any opportunity to score, but at the end you get one and you feel much better."

Ryan Hartman had a goal and an assist, and Matt Boldy scored the only goal in the shootout for the Wild (24-11-4), who have won four of five. Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves and stopped Ovechkin in the third round of the shootout to seal the victory.

"Well, we still got one more game (against Washington), so I don't want to get too cocky too early,” Fleury said when asked if he got the last laugh on Ovechkin. “He got a goal in the game already, so that was enough."

Tom Wilson and Martin Fehervary scored for the Capitals (25-10-3). Charlie Lindgren made 30 saves.

“They’re a good team, they check hard,” Wilson said. “It was tight both ways. There wasn’t a lot of chances. It comes down to a shootout and they capitalize on one.”

Fehervary gave the Capitals a 3-2 lead at 5:34 of the third period. He received a pass from Pierre-Luc Dubois and scored with a wrist shot through the pads of Fleury, who had tripped over the legs of Wild defenseman Travis Dermott.

The Capitals appeared to increase their lead to 4-2 at 11:04, but the goal was immediately waived off before a video review confirmed that Wilson had scored with a high stick.

Marco Rossi then scored 15 seconds later to tie the game 3-3, knocking in his own rebound after he redirected Hartman’s shot on the rush.

“There was some adversity in the game but we stayed with it,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “And that’s what we talked with the team about is getting in these style of games against top teams. The details matter and staying consistent in our game matters up or down, and I thought we did a good job of that.”

Wilson gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 10:19 of the first period, sliding a rebound past Fleury's outstretched left pad after Rasmus Sandin’s shot from the left point hit him in front.

Hartman tied it 1-1 at 11:24, deflecting Zach Bogosian’s shot from the right point past Lindgren in front.

The Wild took a 2-1 lead on a short-handed goal by Yakov Trenin at 19:07. Lindgren went behind the net to play the puck on a dump in, but his clearing attempt hit a charging Trenin, who then patiently skated around the Capitals goalie, who had scrambled to get back to the post, before tucking the puck into an open net.

“At first I saw he doesn’t have help from his guys,” Trenin said. “It was kind of an easy play for me to go through him. After that I saw that he lost his stick and the puck is right there and I couldn’t believe it. ... Then I got the puck, I see there’s no whistle and I went to the net.”

NOTES: Ovechkin has scored 28 goals in 47 regular-season games against Fleury, the most he has scored against any goaltender in his career. ... Fehervary's goal was the Capitals' 20th from a defenseman in 38 games this season. That equals their total from all of last season. ... Fleury recorded his 36th career shootout win on the road, tying Henrik Lundqvist for the most in NHL history.