Ovechkin has goal, assist in Capitals victory against Flyers

PHILADELPHIA -- Alex Ovechkin had a goal and an assist, and the Washington Capitals won their fifth straight game, 5-3 against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday.

Ovechkin is one point from becoming the 49th NHL player with 1,200, and third active, after Joe Thornton of the San Jose Sharks (1,465) and Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins (1,202).
"It would be cool," Ovechkin said. "Not many players do that. To be one of them would be pretty nice."
WATCH: [All Capitals vs. Flyers highlights]
Braden Holtby made 27 saves for his 250th NHL win. It came in his 409th game, making him the second-fastest goalie in League history to reach the milestone, after Ken Dryden of the Montreal Canadiens (381 games).
"I've been pretty fortunate to play on some good teams," Holtby said. "Wins is a stat that is shared with your whole team, also a consistency thing with the regular season so it shows the commitment we've had in this organization and hopefully we can continue that."

The Capitals (39-21-7) moved two points ahead of the New York Islanders for first place in the Metropolitan Division.
"It's always our goal to be up there," forward Andre Burakovsky said. "I think we're finding the way we played last year the last couple games. I think mentally we're starting to get ready for the (Stanley Cup) Playoffs."
Claude Giroux had a goal and an assist for Philadelphia (32-27-8), which had its five-game point streak end (4-0-1). Brian Elliott allowed four goals on 19 shots and was pulled in the second period. Cam Talbot made 15 saves in relief.
The Flyers are seven points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"We watched them for two periods and then we started playing somewhat good hockey," forward Scott Laughton said. "You can't do that against a team like that. They're too good, they're too skilled. They were skating, making plays, walking right through us and we watched them play."
Tom Wilson gave Washington a 1-0 lead at 5:55 of the first period, and Brett Connolly made it 2-0 at 14:16. Play continued after his shot, but the NHL Situation Room noticed the puck had hit the camera inside the net.

Ovechkin made it 3-0 with a power-play goal at 2:32 of the second period. Burakovsky extended the lead to 4-0 at 4:18, and Nicklas Backstrom put Washington ahead 5-0 at 5:37.
"I was really happy with the beginning of the game," Capitals coach Todd Reirden said. "It was one of our stronger starts to a game in quite some time. We really carried the play and we were able to convert on our chances."
Flyers rookie defenseman Philippe Myers scored his first NHL goal with 12 seconds remaining in the second to make it 5-1. It was his eighth NHL game.
Giroux scored 10 seconds into the third to make it 5-2, and Laughton cut it to 5-3 at 7:48.
"We gave them a little bit too much room (in the first two periods)," Giroux said. "They're a good team, can make plays, but I think we could have played better defensively early on. ... Third period was obviously our best period. We've got to make sure we play like that the whole game."

They said it

"He's great out there. Been great for us for so many years. It's impressive. For us as players, we're so proud of him and happy for him, second (fastest) goalie to reach that milestone. Says it all about him, how important he is for us and for the franchise." -- Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom on goalie Braden Holtby
"There's obviously minimal room for error at this point for us. It's obviously not realistic to say we're going to win every single game. These divisional games are pretty important. It's kind of a missed opportunity for us. Luckily we still have some games we can look forward to and they're pretty important games." -- Flyers defenseman Andrew MacDonald

Need to know

Ovechkin's goal was his 653rd, three behind Brendan Shanahan for 13th in NHL history. It also was his 245th power-play goal, one behind Phil Esposito for fifth all-time. Ovechkin has 13 points (eight goals, five assists) in his past 10 games. ... Capitals defenseman Nick Jensen had an assist for his first point in five games since being acquired in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings on Feb. 22. ... Giroux has 11 points (three goals, eight assists) during a six-game point streak. ... Flyers forward Nolan Patrick missed the game because of an upper-body injury sustained during a 4-1 win against the New York Islanders on Sunday. He had taken part in the morning skate.

What's next

Capitals: Host the New Jersey Devils on Friday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN, NBCSWA, MSG+, NHL.TV)
Flyers:At the New York Islanders (Nassau Coliseum) on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+, NBCSP, NHL.TV)