Ovechkin scores goal No. 892, Hurricanes top Capitals, clinch playoff berth

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Alex Ovechkin scored his 892nd goal, moving within three of breaking Wayne Gretzky's NHL record, but the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Washington Capitals 5-1 to clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the seventh straight season at Lenovo Center on Wednesday.

“The playoffs is awesome,” Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis said. “It’s something we play for all year. To clinch tonight was huge, and the way we did it was awesome.”

Ovechkin scored on a 5-on-3 power play to cut Carolina’s lead to 4-1 at 19:25 of the second period. He one-timed a low shot from the left face-off circle off a pass from Jakob Chychrun for his 39th goal of the season.

Jackson Blake scored two goals, Jarvis had a goal and an assist and Frederik Andersen made 20 saves for the Hurricanes (46-24-4), who have won 12 of their past 14 games (12-2-0). Shayne Gostisbehere had two assists.

“Just a good team effort,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I think everyone was contributing, kind of doing their job, and we capitalized. We were able to score some goals on some good chances that we had, especially early. Against that team, that’s the way you have to do it.”

The Hurricanes are in second place in the Metropolitan Division, nine points behind the Capitals and nine points ahead of the New Jersey Devils.

Charlie Lindgren made 17 saves for the Capitals (48-18-9), who are 1-3-1 in their past five games, including a 4-3 win against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday. Lindgren relieved Logan Thompson, who left with an upper-body injury following the first period. Thompson allowed three goals on 12 shots.

“The first couple shifts, (Carolina) gets momentum, and we just can’t get out of our zone clean,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “And then a turnover ends up in the back of our net. Then we have another failed exit and take a penalty, so now you’re down early in the game.”

Carolina took a 1-0 lead at 6:14 of the first period. Sean Walker scored on a snap shot through traffic from the top of the right face-off circle after an errant pass by Chychrun.

Blake scored on the power play for a 2-0 lead at 10:11. Gostisbehere’s shot appeared to hit teammate Taylor Hall and Capitals defenseman John Carlson before coming to Blake, who partially fanned on a shot that slipped under Thompson’s right pad as he came across the crease.

“Obviously, we knew it was going to be a hard game and it’s going be lots of speed,” Ovechkin said. “Maybe it was just the back-to-back, but in the second we kind of understood what we have to do and, unfortunately, we only score one goal.”

Carolina’s second power-play goal made it 3-0 at 13:21. Jarvis one-timed a no-look pass from Gostisbehere. The Hurricanes have scored on the power play in five straight games.

“We’re starting to figure it out a bit more,” Jarvis said. “We’ve all been in kind of the same spots for a while, so we’re all getting comfortable with each other. It’s nice to see we’re scoring different ways on the power play.”

The Hurricanes pushed the lead to 4-0 at 9:27 of the second period. Jack Roslovic gathered a turnover in the neutral zone and passed to Logan Stankoven, who scored from the slot.

“It’s so hard to win in this League, so when you do clinch playoffs, it’s a great feeling,” Stankoven said. “It’s exciting to be part of this group. Hopefully we can have a good feeling down the stretch here and then into playoffs.”

Carolina’s third power-play goal made it 5-1 at 6:55 of the third period. Blake roofed a short-side backhand after a face-off win by Jarvis. The rookie has three goals in his past three games after going 20 games without scoring.

“It was a great face-off play by ‘Jarvy,’” Blake said. “I had just the one guy to beat and then the goalie. That felt good. I was definitely snakebitten for a while, and to get these are nice.”

NOTES: Carbery said Thompson would be re-evaluated when the team returns to Washington. … Ovechkin has six points (three goals, three assists) in a three-game point streak. … Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov left the game after the second period and did not return. Brind’Amour does not believe Svechnikov’s injury is serious. ... Andersen has a seven-game winning streak. ... The Hurricanes scored three power-play goals for the second time this season (also in an 8-2 win against the Boston Bruins on Oct. 31).