Ovechkin Hits Another High

Star Secures 2nd 100-Point Season, Caps Win to Stay in Hunt: Capitals 4, Predators 2

NASHVILLE, March 18 -- Alex Ovechkin added another milestone to his illustrious career Tuesday night, becoming the first player in Washington Capitals history to record two 100-point seasons.

But with just eight games remaining in his third NHL season, Ovechkin has bigger things on his mind these days -- such as securing his first trip to the playoffs.

Ovechkin made certain the ninth-place Capitals remained in the hunt at Sommet Center, where he had two assists and a fluky empty-net goal to help Washington hang on for its fourth straight victory, 4-2 over the Nashville Predators before a sold-out crowd of 17,113.

"I feel good, but the most important thing is winning the games, all about two points," said Ovechkin, who extended his league lead in goals and points to 58 and 102, respectively.

With a three-point night in his 237th game, Ovechkin also became the fastest player to 300 career points since Peter Forsberg got there in 229 games on Dec. 23, 1997. Paul Kariya did it in 238 games.

But that wasn't the only reason Coach Bruce Boudreau singled out Ovechkin for praise afterward. He also noted Ovechkin stepping into the path of a Greg DeVries slap shot in the first period. Ovechkin still was limping after the game, but is not expected to miss any time.

"He's blocking shots because he wants to win as much as anybody, if not more," Boudreau said. "If you see the best player in the world blocking shots, it's got to tell the rest of the team that they can do it, too. That's why he's out there at the end the of the game -- because he pays the price."

Alexander Semin, Nicklas Backstrom and Matt Bradley scored first-period goals for the Capitals, chasing Predators starting goalie Dan Ellis from the net. But it took another clutch performance from Cristobal Huet (24 saves) to ensure Washington stayed out front.

The Predators outshot the Capitals by a combined 19-11 in the final 40 minutes and had gotten to within 3-2 on goals by J.P. Dumont and Jason Arnott.

But with the game on the line in the waning moments, and with the Predators putting an extra attacker on the ice, Ovechkin calmly banked the puck off the dasher boards near center ice and all the way down the ice for an empty-net goal with 3.5 seconds remaining to send Nashville to its fifth straight home loss (0-4-1).

Though it appeared that Ovechkin was aiming for a bank-shot goal, he later said was simply trying to kill more time. He also called the goal "my luckiest score ever" and now has scored in 23 arenas.

Because Philadelphia also won, beating Atlanta 3-2, the Capitals did not gain any ground in the race for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference. Washington did, however, pull to within three points of idle Carolina for the Southeast Division lead.