Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin took a huge leap towards overtaking Wayne Gretzky’s goalscoring record on Sunday.

"I have pretty good chances to score more," Ovechkin said, "but I’ll take three.” “He amazes me night in, night out,” Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren said. “He truly is the best.”

General manager Chris Patrick announced the move Monday, with the Capitals atop the Eastern Conference with roughly a quarter of the regular season left to play.

by STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer TOPICS: WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored his 880th ... Connor McMichael and Strome also scored and Charlie Lindgren made 22 saves for the Capitals ...

Ovechkin beat Calvin Pickard clean with a ... Tom Wilson, Jakob Chychrun, Connor McMichael and Strome also scored and Charlie Lindgren made 22 saves for the Capitals, who won back-to-back matinees ...

Alex Ovechkin had so many chance to score in the Washington Capitals’ rout of the Edmonton Oilers that he joked, “I’ll take three.”