Washington Capitals forward Dylan Strome called Alex Ovechkin’s chase of Gretzky’s record ‘historic’ (image credit: IMAGN)

Washington Capitals forward Dylan Strome praised Alex Ovechkin after he scored his 886th career goal in a 4-2 win over the Seattle Kraken on Sunday. Ovechkin’s empty-net goal at 18:31 of the third period put him nine goals behind Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record.

Strome, who is in the second year of his five-year $25 million contract (per Spotrac), recognized Ovechkin’s achievement.

“We all know what’s happening and how historic it is,” Strome said after the game, via NHL.com. “It’s incredible. We obviously want to get him on the ice. He does a great job of finding ways to get open.”

Ovechkin’s goal also gave him 1,600 NHL points in his 1,474th career game. He has 33 goals this season, with 18 games left. He is on pace to pass Gretzky’s record on April 10 against the Carolina Hurricanes.

In Sunday’s game, Connor McMichael scored the game-winning goal and had an assist for Washington (42-14-8), which has won four straight matchups. John Carlson added two assists while Charlie Lindgren made 30 saves.

Shane Wright and Jordan Eberle scored for the Kraken (27-34-4), who defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 in their last game. Seattle has lost five of its last seven. Joey Daccord made 20 saves for the Kraken.

The Capitals will try to keep their strong play going as Ovechkin gets closer to breaking the NHL record.

Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin talked about the team’s slow start vs Seattle

The Washington Capitals had a slow start on Sunday as they were outshot by the Seattle Kraken 14-7 in the first period and gained a 1-0 lead with Shane Wright’s snapshot goal at 12:37.

“I think it’s our second game when we have a slow start,” Alex Ovechkin said after the game, via NHL.com. “I think all four lines kind of was sleepy, but it’s a good thing the first shift in the second period kind of woke us up, and you can see in the third period we had plenty of chances to score.”

Washington’s defense performed well in the second period and limited Seattle’s offense to nine shots. Its offense executed precisely, scoring two goals to take a 2-1 lead. However, Seattle’s Jordan Eberle tied the game five minutes later.

In the third period, the Capitals’ offense took charge with Connor McMichael’s goal for a 3-2 lead and Alex Ovechkin finished the game with an empty netter.