Alex Ovechkin scores 763rd goal, Capitals beat Hurricanes to end skid

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Fans chanted Alex Ovechkin's name after a goal, much as they have for almost two decades.

For the first time in more than a month, they went home happy.

Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored on the power play, Vitek Vanecek stopped all 36 shots he faced and the Washington Capitals snapped a three-game losing streak by beating the Eastern Conference-leading Carolina Hurricanes 4-0 Thursday night.

Washington's longtime captain scored his 33rd goal of the season and his 763rd in the NHL to move three back of Jaromir Jagr for third place on the career list. Amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ordered by the president he has long supported, Ovechkin — the face of the hockey franchise in the U.S. capital and a Stanley Cup champion — was serenaded with chants of "Ovi! Ovi!" that have become quite familiar during his 17-year career.

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Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) celebrates his goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Carolina Hurricanes, Thursday, March 3, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

"He’s done so much good for the NHL and so much good for this organization," Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said. "It’s a really difficult situation for him, a really difficult situation for Kuznetsov and (Dmitry) Orlov and the other Russians that we have on our team."

Ovechkin's goal and another one by Orlov late in the third period after a power play expired put an exclamation point on Washington's first home victory since Jan. 22 and first in regulation since Dec. 29. The Capitals had lost six in a row at home as part of a slump that included defeats in 14 of