Ovechkin Nears Backstrom Record as Caps Beat Devils

Alex Ovechkin's saucer pass set up the go-ahead goal, and it moved him to the doorstep of a Washington Capitals franchise record. Ovechkin fed Ilya Protas on the rush early in the second period, and the Capitals rolled past the New Jersey Devils 4-2 at Capital One Arena on Saturday afternoon.

That helper was Ovechkin's 761st career assist, per NHL.com, putting him one away from tying Nicklas Backstrom (762) for the most in Capitals history. The win was also the 347th comeback win of his career, tying Joe Thornton for second in NHL history. Only Patrick Marleau (352) has more.

Ovechkin's pass and four straight Caps goals

New Jersey struck first when Arseny Gritsyuk beat Logan Thompson with a wrist shot from the left wall at 10:04 of the first, one second after a power play ended. Then Ryan Leonard flipped the building. On a power play at 16:42, he carried the puck end to end, split two defenders and deked Jake Allen to tie it 1-1.

"You'll be seeing that (goal), I have a feeling, all year long," Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said.

Ovechkin's play came 1:16 into the second. Protas took the pass right on his tape and ripped a wrist shot into the top far corner from the left circle. "As soon as I kind of saw him looking at me, I'm like, 'Yeah, he's going to try to make the play,'" Protas said. Dylan Strome added his first of the season on a backhand at 4:36, and Boone Jenner made it 4-1 at 11:14 for his fourth goal in five games.

Thompson slams the door

The Devils pushed hard in the third and outshot Washington 17-5 in the period. Thompson made 16 of his 29 saves in the third to keep the lead safe. Timo Meier scored on a power play with 19 seconds left for the final margin. Allen finished with 21 saves for New Jersey.

"(Thompson) makes those huge saves and keeps them off the board and basically calms everything down to where we're going to be able to close this out," Carbery said.

Thompson also picked up his sixth career assist on Leonard's goal. Washington improved to 5-3-0 and is 15-2-2 in its past 19 home games since Jan. 31. New Jersey fell to 4-4-0, two nights after a 7-1 win over the Rangers, and Jack Hughes saw his five-game point streak end.

Backstrom's mark is one helper away

Backstrom spent years feeding Ovechkin. Now Ovechkin is one assist from matching his old center's club record, and two from owning it outright. For a player built on goals, the playmaking chase is a fun twist this deep into his career.

The Capitals host the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday, and the first Ovechkin dish that night ties Backstrom. Get to your seats early.