Ovechkin scores No. 716 in Capitals win against Flyers, third straight

PHILADELPHIA-- Alex Ovechkin scored his 716th NHL goal and the Washington Capitals held on for a 5-4 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday.

The forward is one goal from tying Phil Esposito for sixth in NHL history.
Carl Hagelin and Nick Jensen each had a goal and an assist for Washington (17-6-4), which won three straight here this week and has won nine of 11. Ilya Samsonov made 28 saves.
"I think we've done a good job coming out with a lot of energy each game and we've been able to score that first goal, and you can see we're doing a pretty good job too defensively," Hagelin said. "Obviously in the third we're giving up too much, but just overall we feel that we have a lot of confidence in our teammates and our linemates that they're going to do their jobs."

Shayne Gostisbehere and Claude Giroux scored in the third period for Philadelphia (13-9-3). Carter Hart made 11 saves after relieving Brian Elliott, who was pulled 3:05 into the second period after allowing three goals on 10 shots.
"I thought we played a good game from start to finish," Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said. "Guys competed. We're not going to be perfect, but we competed hard, made some good plays at the right time, got some good looks. Unfortunately the game results-wise didn't go our way, but our battle level was there and we worked right until the end."
Ovechkin made it 4-2 at 13:10 with his 263rd power-play goal, which is two behind Brett Hull for second in NHL history. Dave Andreychuk is first with 274.
Nic Dowd made it 5-2 at 4:25 of the third period. Washington's fourth line of Dowd, Hagelin and Garnett Hathaway (two assists) combined for five points Saturday, and eight points (four goals, four assists) in the three games against the Flyers.
"There is a good balance right now," Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said. "There are no different rules for different lines, and no different roles. Everybody has the same rules with regards to how we play defense, how we attack offensively, and from there you have to work to create or work to defend. So the fact that we are getting contributions both defensively and offensively from all four lines I think is a real positive thing."

Gostisbehere's power-play goal made it 5-3 at 13:07, and Giroux scored a 6-on-5 goal to make it 5-4 with 2:57 left.
The Flyers have lost five of their past seven games.
"It's hard to evaluate it like that when you're losing games, but we're doing a lot of good things out there," Giroux said. "A few mistakes that cost us, but overall I think we keep playing like this, keep trending the right way, keep doing the right things, we're going to win a lot of hockey games."
Daniel Sprong gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 4:40 of the first period when he tipped the rebound of a Jakub Vrana pass over Elliott's shoulder. Hagelin made it 2-0 at 13:21 when he pushed the rebound of a Jensen shot under Elliott.
James Van Riemsdyk scored to make it 2-1 at 2:36 of the second period off a Sprong giveaway. Jensen put the Capitals ahead 3-1 at 3:05 when he outraced Gostisbehere and scored. Nolan Patrick scored his first goal since Jan. 26 (18 games) to make it 3-2 at 5:47.

NOTES: Ovechkin's goal came on his 5,638th NHL shot, which passed Jaromir Jagr for second in history. His 5,639 shots trail Ray Bourque (6,209) for first in NHL history (since 1959-60). ... Carlson had two assists to give him five points (one goal, four assists) during a four-game point streak. ... Capitals forward Lars Eller played three shifts then left the game 5:14 into the first period because of a lower-body injury and is considered day to day. He missed a 5-3 win against Philadelphia on Thursday because of a family matter. ... Flyers forward Travis Konecny had an assist on Gostisbehere's goal for his 200th NHL point in his 318th game.