The Washington Capitals fought till the end but fell 3-2 to the Winnipeg Jets. Alex Ovechkin would score goal number 889 in the loss to bring him six goals away from passing Wayne Gretzky.
Ovechkin ties the game with 889 to give Caps at least a point
Josh Morrissey struck first for the Jets at 6:50. Andrew Mangiapane would tie it at 19:20 with his 14th goal on the season. Jakob Chychrun, who was just signed to a nine year extension, had the assist for his 26th. The Jets led in shots 8-6 after one as the game was tied 1-1 after 20.
In the second period at 19:48, Mason Appleton put the Jets in front 2-1. Caps would trail by that score after two but led in shots 12-7 in the middle stanza.
At the 16 minute mark in the third period Alex Ovechkin would tie the game for his 36th goal of the season and 889th of his career. He is now six away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's all time goals record.
Aliaksei Protas added his 35th assist while Trevor van Riemsdyk tacked on his 19th in the Ovi shot from his wheelhouse in the office. Caps led in shots 11-9 in the third period and the game would require overtime.
At 1:28 in the extra session, Nikolaj Ehlers struck to give the Jets the win to clinch their spot in the postseason. Caps led in shots 29-25 overall. Logan Thompson would get the loss in net as he finished with 22 saves. 3-2 would go on to be the final.
"I think the beginning of the second we generate pretty good chances, and in the third you can see after we're down by one we're kind of trying to make a push and we got rewarded. But it was a playoff game, like playoff mentality, physicality was there as well. So, yeah, it was a good one. "Alex Ovechkin
The Caps are still ahead in the battle for the Presidents' Trophy with 103 points, one point ahead of the Jets. Washington will continue their road trip on Thursday night when they take on the Minnesota Wild. You can catch the game on Monumental Sports Network as well as ESPN plus, Hulu, and Disney plus. You can listen to the game on 106.7 The Fan and Caps Radio 24/7.