The Washington Capitals take on the New York Islanders today at 12:30 p.m. on Monumental Sports Network, TNT, MAX and truTV. You can also listen to the game on 106.7 The Fan and Caps Radio 24/7.
Betting odds plus more on today's game
The Capitals vs Islanders betting odds per Caesars have the Caps as 1.5 goal favorites on home ice with -145 moneyline odds. The Islanders are the underdog at +122. Today's over/under is set at 6.0 goals.
Today will be the second of three games between the teams this season. Alex Ovechkin enters the game one goal away from becoming the NHL's all time leading goal scorer. In their first meeting on Nov. 29 at Capital One Arena, the Capitals overcame a 4-2 third period deficit and Jakob Chychrun scored in overtime to give Washington a 5-4 win.
Washington willl return to UBS Arena on April 15 to complete the season series. The Capitals are 125-98-13-7 all time against the Islanders and 6-3-1 in their last 10 games against New York dating back to April 2022. In addition, the Capitals are 6-2-0 in their last eight road games against the Islanders.
Ovechkin potted his 893rd and 894th career goals on Friday against the Chicago Blackhawks which happened to be in Ovechkin's 1,486th game one game fewer than it took Gretzky to reach 894. Gretzky has held the NHL's all time goals record since March 23, 1994 when he scored his 802nd career goal to overtake Gordie Howe (801) for the League record.
Ovechkin's 894th goal was also his 136th career game winning goal. That moved him past Jaromir Jagr (135) for the most in NHL history. Ovechkin has five goals in his last four games which marked his NHL record 35th career goal streak of four or more games.
The 39 year old has scored 41 goals in 60 games this season which is good for 0.68 goals per games played and 19 goals in his last 26 games. Ovechkin is poised to become the first player born outside of Canada to hold the all time goals record and has spent his entire 20 year career with the Caps. Unlike most record holders in other North American sports leagues, Ovechkin will break the goals record wearing the uniform of the team he began his career with.
Ovechkin will be right there listed with an elite class of athletes. LeBron James has the NBA record for most points with 42,096 as he's suited up for three teams. He initially was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers, joined the Miami Heat at one point and is now on the Los Angeles Lakers.
Jerry Rice has the NFL record for total touchdowns with 208. A lot of people remember when he was on the San Francisco 49ers where he was originally drafted but Rice also spent time with the Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks. Finally you have Barry Bonds who has the MLB record for the most home runs with 762. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates while breaking the home runs record with the San Francisco Giants.