Ovechkin scores twice, Capitals gain ground in wild-card race with win against Flyers

WASHINGTON -- Alex Ovechkin scored twice and reached the 30-goal plateau for the 20th time in his career, and the Washington Capitals gained ground in the Eastern Conference wild-card race with a 6-4 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Capital One Arena on Tuesday.

Ovechkin, who has five goals in his past three games, leads the Capitals with 31 goals in 75 games this season to increase his NHL record-setting career total to 928.

“Obviously, it’s a huge game and you can see, I think, everybody was on the same page,” said Ovechkin, the Washington captain. “Everybody set the tone right away. Huge hits, huge plays, and obviously, it’s a big number.”

Tom Wilson scored twice, Jakob Chychrun had a goal and two assists, and Ryan Leonard had a goal and an assist for the Capitals (38-28-9), who have won three straight games and are 5-1-1 in their past seven. Pierre-Luc Dubois had four assists, and Logan Thompson made 20 saves.

Washington trails the Columbus Blue Jackets by three points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the East. 

“Our guys knew how important this game was and our veteran guys led the way,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said, “and that is such an important piece because they've been there before, they've played in these games. For them to go out there and play the way they did, whether it was 'Willie,' 'Chychy,' 'O,' Pierre-Luc Dubois, for them just to lead the way and calm some young guys that are going through this for the first time was vital for our success tonight.”

Travis Sanheim and Christian Dvorak each had a goal and an assist, Travis Konecny had two assists, and Dan Vladar made 12 saves for the Flyers (37-25-12), who had won three straight and had their eight-game road winning streak end. 

Philadelphia, which is tied in points with the Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings, trails Columbus by two points.

“I liked a lot of our game,” Sanheim said. “I thought we had a lot of good looks. Just couldn’t outscore our mistakes tonight. And then, obviously, giving up two on their power play hurt us as well.”

Wilson, who was playing his 900th game, gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 14:59 of the first period. Dubois entered the zone and dropped the puck back to Wilson, who scored on a snap shot from the high slot.

Ovechkin made it 2-0 at 18:35. Matt Roy drove to the net and, after drawing Vladar to the left post, centered the puck before it bounced around the slot, where Ovechkin tipped it home.

Sanheim pulled the Flyers within 2-1 when he scored with a snap shot from the high slot 39 seconds into the second period. The goal was initially waved off due to goaltender interference by Dvorak, but the Flyers challenged the call, and it was overturned after a video review.

“They came out the first 10, 12 (minutes) and tried to bully us, and I thought after that we started to get our game,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said.

Carl Grundstrom tied the score 2-2 at 4:36, scoring in front after a backhand pass from Trevor Zegras in the corner.

Chychrun gave the Capitals a 3-2 lead with a power-play goal at 6:58, scoring on a one-timer from the left dot off a backhand pass across the point from Leonard.

“Well, I think we moved the puck quickly tonight (on the power play)," Wilson said. “I think we were just keeping it simple, getting pucks to the net and moving the puck.”

Leonard made it 4-2 at 17:37. He received a pass in the right circle from Dubois and beat Vladar with a glove-side snap shot on the power play.

“I thought our 5-on-5 play was good,” Tocchet said. “They won the special teams. That was the difference in the game.”

Dvorak pulled the Flyers within 4-3 at 33 seconds of the third period when he scored from the left post off a pass by Konecny from behind the net.

Ovechkin made it 5-3 at 3:47, receiving a backhand pass from Connor McMichael and putting a diving snap shot past Vladar from the bottom of the right circle.

“Just dragging guys into the fight, playing his best hockey at the most important time of the year, and scored a couple of huge goals getting to the net, and we needed those,” Carbery said of Ovechkin.

Denver Barkey cut the Capitals' lead to 5-4, tipping Rasmus Ristolainen's point shot before it deflected in off Washington defenseman Martin Fehervary at 7:52, but Wilson scored into an empty net at 18:56 for the 6-4 final.

“It’s frustrating,” Konecny said. “Just on to the next game. We’ve been playing some really good hockey and we’re just going to keep applying pressure. That’s all we can do.”

NOTES: Ovechkin has 54 goals in 82 career games against the Flyers. He became the fourth player in NHL history to score 30 goals at age 40 or older, joining Gordie Howe (44 in 1968-69, 31 in 1969-70), Johnny Bucyk (36 in 1975-76), and Teemu Selanne (31 in 2010-11). … Flyers forward Porter Martone, chosen with the No. 6 pick of the 2025 NHL Draft, played 16:54 and had five shots on goal in his NHL debut.