Ovechkin scores his 858th goal and has 2 assists as the Capitals beat the Canadiens 6-3

WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin scored his 858th career goal and had two assists, and the Washington Capitals beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-3 on Thursday night to continue their strong start.

Ovechkin is now 37 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's record. After making Cayden Primeau the 176th different goaltender he has scored on, Ovechkin is on pace for 45 this season, which would put him at 895 and perhaps beyond this spring.

Before scoring with 7:33 left in the third period, Ovechkin set up goals by Tom Wilson and Aliaksei Protas. Wilson ended an 0-for-22 power-play drought with his team-leading sixth goal of the season.

Brandon Duhaime and Jakub Vrana scored less than a minute apart, and new dad Connor McMichael also had a goal for the Capitals, who improved to 7-2-0. They last won seven of their first nine games in 2015-16.

Montreal's Cole Caufield scored his 10th to tie New Jersey captain Nico Hischier for the league lead. Brendan Gallagher and Nick Suzuki had the other goals for the Canadiens, and Primeau stopped 28 shots.

Takeaways

Canadiens: After coach Martin St-Louis mixed up his lines following an 8-2 home loss to Seattle, this was a better effort. It also helped to get defensemen Kaiden Guhle and Justin Barrow back from injury.

Capitals: The sample size is no longer too small. It's OK to think the Caps are a playoff contender after several offseason additions.

Key moment

Charlie Lindgren made the biggest of his 13 saves denying Caufield on a lengthy penalty kill in the third, which came after Washington went up 5-3.

Key stat

The Capitals have scored three or more goals in eight of their nine games.

Up Next

The Capitals host Columbus on Saturday, and the Canadiens visit Pittsburgh.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl