Wayne Gretzky is expected to be in attendance Friday night in Washington with Alex Ovechkin two goals from tying and three from breaking the Canadian great’s NHL record.

The Capitals’ game against Chicago marks the start of Gretzky joining the chase in person.

“It’s great,” Ovechkin said after his team’s morning skate. “He’s been supportive all the time to me. It’s a fun time right now. We’ll see what’s going to happen, but right now it’s all attention to a hockey game. It’s a pretty cool moment.”

Commissioner Gary Bettman, Ovechkin’s wife, Nastya, and Capitals owner Ted Leonsis were in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Wednesday night. Ovechkin scored his 892nd goal in that game, putting him a hat trick on home ice away from passing Gretzky’s mark of 894 that long seemed unapproachable.

“It’s going to be fun,” said winger Tom Wilson, who like Gretzky is from Ontario. “It’s bigger than the game right now. It’s bigger than hockey. It’s the ‘Great One.’ I mean, no one would have ever thought that would happen. The energy around this thing the whole year, it’s been second to none, and it’s been something no one’s ever gone through.”

Not at least in 31 years, since Gretzky passed “Mr. Hockey” Gordie Howe’s all-time mark of 801 career goals. Gretzky is accompanying Ovechkin on the approach to 895 like Howe did for him on the way to 802 in 1994.

“The greatest player of all time is coming to follow us for however long it takes, so it’s exciting,” Capitals center Dylan Strome said. “I think Ovi and Gretzky have a pretty good relationship. And obviously the ambassador that he’s been for the game for as many years as he has, he does a ton for hockey and a ton for Canada, so it’s cool.”

The anticipation is building around hockey for what’s being billed the “GR8 chase,” and Gretzky being in the building is the latest piece of that.

“It just shows you how close the players are in the game and how much respect there is between both of them,” said retired defenseman Jason Demers, an NHL Network analyst who will also be at the game with “NHL Live” moving on site for the occasion. “Having Wayne be there and support Ovechkin, who’s going to basically break his record and take him out of the record books, I know he’s got 20 or 30 more of them, but it’s just wild to think about the support that guys have for one another, and that’s what makes our sport so great.”

RALEIGH, N.C. — Alex Ovechkin moved three goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record after scoring the 892nd of his career in the Washington Capitals’ game at the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night.

Ovechkin beat Frederik Andersen on a 5-on-3 power-play with 34.5 seconds left in the second period. He now has 10 goals in 13 career games against Andersen, 53 overall in the 92 games he has faced Carolina and 32 in 46 games in Raleigh, which is the most of any visiting player.

Commissioner Gary Bettman, Capitals owner Ted Leonsis and Ovechkin's wife, Nastya, were in attendance for No. 892, sitting together in a suite.

The 39-year-old Russian has 39 goals this season and is one way from reaching 40 for a 14th time - also the most in league history - despite missing 16 games because of a broken left fibula.

The Eastern Conference-leading Capitals have seven more games left this season. Ovechkin is on pace to pass Gretzky’s mark of 894, which long seemed unapproachable, before the playoffs begin.

Because it is only a regular-season record, Ovechkin’s pursuit would need to continue in October if he does not score two or more the rest of the way this month.

BOSTON — Alex Ovechkin scored his 891st career goal, moving him four away from passing Wayne Gretzky's NHL record, and Dylan Strome broke a third-period tie on Tuesday night to lead the Washington Capitals to a 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins.

Nic Dowd and Tom Wilson also scored for Washington. Charlie Lindgren made 21 saves to help the Eastern Conference-leading Capitals snap a a three-game losing streak.

David Pastrnak had two goals, Vinni Lettieri scored one and Jeremy Swayman stopped 27 shots for Boston, which lost its ninth in a row.

Ovechkin gave the Capitals a 2-0 lead with about four minutes left in the first period, pushing a cross-crease pass from Strome into an open net. He has 12 goals in his last 18 games and eight games remaining this season to catch Gretzky.

The 39-year-old Russian also shot wide on an empty net in the final minutes.

The Bruins came back in the second, getting a goal from Lettieri six minutes into the second and then the tying score by Pastrnak with three minutes left in the period. But Strome gave Washington the lead midway through the third, grabbing a rebound off the back wall and slipping it past Swayman.

Capitals: Ovechkin is averaging a little less than two goals every three games. At that pace, he would pass Gretzky in the penultimate game of the season, at the New York Islanders on April 15.

Bruins: The fans got what they wanted from their draft lottery-bound team: A goal from Ovechkin and a competitive game.

With five minutes left in the second period, Boston's Jeffrey Viel and Washington's Dylan McIlrath squared off for a fight that seemed like it might be the highlight of the night for those fans actually rooting for the Bruins.

Two minutes later, Pastrnak redirected a slap pass from Morgan Geekie into the net to tie it 2-all.

Capitals forward and Massachusetts native Ryan Leonard played his first NHL game. The Hobey Baker Award finalist had back-to-back 30-goal seasons at Boston College, which was eliminated from the NCAA hockey tournament on Sunday night.

The Capitals are in Carolina to play the Hurricanes on Wednesday night and the Bruins visit the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — For Alex Ovechkin, scoring the 890th goal of his career wasn’t such a sweet moment; in fact, moving five goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record didn’t matter much to the 39-year-old after an 8-5 loss at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres.

“Right now, we lost three in a row,” Ovechkin said. “It’s a good thing it happens right now and not in the playoffs, but we just have to bounce back and find a way to win the games.”

Ovechkin scored at 9:11 of the third period, deflecting Rasmus Sandin’s shot past James Reimer to pull Washington within two.

Though the Capitals were able to pull within one and seemed to kick their game into higher gear after his goal, the 39-year-old said it was Aliaksei Protas’ shorthanded tally at the start of the period that sparked the rally.

“When you score on the PK, it give you more (life) and you can see our bench getting after the game,” Ovechkin said. “We tried to come back, but unfortunately, we can’t.”

He is now back on pace to pass Gretzky’s mark of 894 that long seemed unapproachable this spring. He has 37 this season and is on track to reach 40 for a 14th time, also the most in league history, despite missing 16 games because of a broken left fibula.

“Again, it’s insane number,” Protas said. “I don’t think I’d ever get that, even in NHL 25 (the video game) ... he’s chasing something special.”

Before capping off a three-point night in the third period, Ovechkin had found his ice time limited amid numerous defensive zone starts, penalty kills and an unsatisfactory effort from the top-six. He skated just 7:43 minutes through the first two periods, the lowest on the team, and finished the night with 16:22 minutes while moving to Pierre-Luc Dubois’ line.

“We were fighting to stay in that game, I didn’t like any of our top-six again tonight,” coach Spencer Carbery said, adding, “It just hasn’t looked great. Their underlying numbers haven’t been great the last two games from our top-six.”

Ovechkin will continue his pursuit of Gretzky on Tuesday when the Capitals head north to visit the Boston Bruins.

SUNRISE, Fla. — Brad Marchand has made his Florida debut.

The Panthers had Marchand — who, because of an upper-body injury, hasn’t appeared in a game with Florida since being acquired in a trade with Boston three weeks ago — in the starting lineup Friday night when the team played host to the Utah Hockey Club.

Marchand, who was greeted by plenty of fans around the ice during warm-ups and even flicked a puck into the stands toward one group as a souvenir, got the loudest reception of any of Florida’s skaters when the game-opening unit was announced.

It was the first time in 1,091 NHL games, 1,248 when adding in playoff contests, that Marchand took the ice in something other than a Bruins sweater. Marchand was on Florida’s second line with Sam Bennett and Mackie Samoskevich — who grew up in New England watching Marchand play for the Bruins.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Samoskevich said of playing with Marchand. “He’s such a good player. So silky. I feel like when he has the puck, he sees you — he’s got eyes in the back of his head. It’s a lot of fun. Excited for the future with him. He’s such a good guy off the ice, too.”

Marchand had 21 goals and 26 assists in 61 games with the Bruins this season, and Panthers coach Paul Maurice said when the deal got done that Marchand, he believes, helps fill what Florida will need in its playoff run and its quest to win a second consecutive Stanley Cup.

“He’s had an incredible career,” Maurice said. “He’s a Stanley Cup champion, 1,000 games, 1,000 penalty minutes, lots of points. I don’t want to see it all in one game. ... You know how tenacious this guy is, how physical he is, how hard he plays. Then you get him in practice and you’re like, ‘Oh my God, he’s got hands on him.’ And you start to realize how good the skill level is there.”

It may have been strange at first, with the former captain of the Bruins wearing Florida colors after those teams had tough playoff battles — both won by the Panthers — in 2023 and 2024. But by all accounts, Marchand has fit perfectly into the Florida mix.

“He brings a lot of energy to the locker room, a lot of compete on the ice,” Panthers defenseman Gus Forsling said. “A huge veteran that’s going to be big for us.”

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Alex Ovechkin didn’t score for Washington, staying at 889 career goals and six away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record.

Ovechkin did initiate a memorable moment on the ice in Minnesota on Thursday night, though.

The three-time NHL MVP, who has been in the spotlight for months amid his pursuit of Gretzky’s career goal mark, hustled over toward the tunnel behind the bench after the horn sounded on Washington’s 4-2 loss to make sure all of the Capitals came back on the ice to shake hands with retiring Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. Ovechkin was the first to greet Fleury at mid-ice as they shared a hug and a laugh.

Fleury, who’s in his 21st and assuredly final season in the league, was on the home bench all night while Filip Gustavsson manned the net.

Ovechkin mentioned to the team in the morning that it would be the last matchup against Fleury, who faced Ovechkin and the Capitals frequently over the first 13 seasons of his career with Pittsburgh. Ovechkin had 28 goals in 47 games against Fleury, his most against any goalie.

“He’s had so many battles with the Caps, with ‘O,’” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “Pretty classy to be able to send him off and just say how impressive a career he had.”

Capitals center Dylan Strome played briefly with Fleury in Chicago.

“Everyone knows he’s one of the best people of all time in the game, so the little respect we can show him at the end of the game I think goes a long way,” Strome said.

The Wild were impressed by the gesture, even if they weren’t surprised.

“Every team we go to, you see the signs. Everyone loves him, and everyone loves playing against him,” Gustavsson said. “I think no one really would say anything bad about him.”

At some point soon, the Wild will likely find themselves doing their own internal tribute.

“It’s awesome to see. It’s fun for him, and I am happy for him,” defenseman Jonas Brodin said. “He’s a great person and one of the best I have ever played with, so it’s pretty cool. It’s special to have that when you quit hockey someday, that you played with that guy, for sure.”

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Washington Capitals signed defenseman Dylan McIlrath to a two-year, $1.6 million contract Thursday.

The 32-year-old McIlrath has two assists in 11 games this season. He was set to become an unrestricted free agent after the season.

McIlrath captained Washington affiliate Hershey’s 2023 and 2024 Calder Cup championship teams in the American Hockey League. The 6-foot-6 defender has three goals and six assists in 86 career NHL regular-season games with Washington, Florida, the New York Rangers and Detroit.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Sidney Crosby broke an NHL record he shared with Wayne Gretzky for point-per-game consistency.

By scoring 8:49 into the first period for Pittsburgh against Buffalo on Thursday night, Crosby registered his 80th point to assure he’ll finish his 20th NHL season averaging at least a point per outing.

The Penguins captain surpassed the mark first set by Gretzky, who finished all but his 20th and final NHL season in 1998-99 averaging a point a game.

The 37-year-old Crosby reached 80 points in his 72nd game in a season during which he has already missed two outings due to injury. Pittsburgh has eight games remaining on its schedule.

Crosby’s 26th goal of the season cut Buffalo’s lead to 2-1. He was set up by Rickard Rakell’s pass from below the goal-line to the left of the net. Crosby used his right skate to stop the pass and kick into his stick before snapping it inside the right post.

Selected first overall in the 2005 draft, Crosby has spent his entire career in Pittsburgh, where he’s a three-time Stanley Cup champion.

Meanwhile, Washington’s Alex Ovechkin is closing in on breaking Gretzky’s NHL career record of 894 career goals. Ovechkin scored his 889th goal Tuesday night.

The Philadelphia Flyers fired coach John Tortorella on Thursday with nine games left in another losing season for a franchise that hasn’t been in the playoffs since 2020.

The Flyers are last in the Metropolitan Division at 28-36-9 for 65 points under the notoriously brusque Tortorella. The Flyers suffered their sixth straight loss Tuesday, 7-2 to Toronto.

Tortorella, who won a Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay in 2004, said after the game he was not “really interested in learning how to coach in this type of season, where we’re at right now. But I have to do a better job. So this falls on me, getting the team prepared to play the proper way until we get to the end.”

The Flyers named Brad Shaw the interim coach, starting with Thursday’s game against Montreal.

“John played a vital role in our rebuild. He set a standard of play and re-established what it means to be a Philadelphia Flyer,” general manager Danny Briere said. “John’s passion on the bench was only equaled by his charitable work in our community. As we move into the next chapter of this rebuild, I felt this was the best for our team to move forward. I’d like to thank John for his tireless work and commitment to the Flyers.”

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Lindy Ruff gave a brief wave to acknowledge the applauding crowd before turning up the tunnel in what proved to be a modest moment to celebrate his 600th career win as Buffalo Sabres coach.

Humbling as it was in becoming the NHL’s second coach to achieve the milestone with one franchise, Ruff was preoccupied with other thoughts following a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators.

Weighing heavily on Ruff in the closing weeks of his first season in his second stint in Buffalo was the disappointment of falling well short of his objective in transforming the Sabres into winners . And the frustration of a job unfinished compelled him to already begin looking ahead to next season, with Buffalo all but assured of extending its NHL-record playoff drought to a 14th season.

“I’m a guy that from Day 1 always thinks I can fix everything. And I haven’t been able to fix everything,” Ruff said.

“This year has been a disappointment for me,” he added, specifically referring to the team’s playoff hopes unraveling during an 0-10-3 skid spanning November and December. “I feel personally responsible that there were games that were right there that could’ve turned it and got it the other way. And we didn’t get it done.”

As for the milestone, Ruff wasn’t even aware of his achievement until a team official told him as he was leaving the bench moments after the final horn, and just before the public address announcer informed the crowd.

“I really wasn’t aware of it, but obviously feels good. I mean, just to get the win tonight felt good, how hard we battled,” he said of an outing in which Buffalo overcame two one-goal deficits and won on Tage Thompson’s go-ahead goal 1:23 into the third period.

“I’ve been fortunate,” he added, listing former GMs and owners. “A lot of good people around me that have helped throughout the years, and coaches, unbelievable fan support here in this building.”

Ruff improved his Buffalo record to 600-467-90 and 78 ties, and trails only Al Arbour, who won 740 games with the New York Islanders.

The 65-year-old Ruff got his second chance to coach the Sabres in April after Don Granato was fired following three-plus seasons. In being rehired after head-coaching stops in Dallas and New Jersey, Ruff became the Sabres seventh coach since he was fired two months into the labor-dispute-shortened 2014 season.

In 2011, he was Buffalo’s last to coach lead the team to the playoffs. Ruff’s first term in Buffalo lasted 14-plus-season, during which was the NHL’s coach of the year in 2006. Under his watch, the Sabres lost the Stanley Cup Final in six games to Dallas in 1999, and lost in the Eastern Conference finals to Carolina and Ottawa in 2006 and ’07.

Ruff’s ties to Buffalo date to his playing days in the 1980s, when he spent nine of his fist 12 NHL seasons with the Sabres, including a three-year term as captain.

Overall, Ruff’s 1,844 games coached rank third on the NHL list. He ranks fifth with 893 career victories and second with 714 losses.

What encourages him is how the Sabres have responded of late.

Though still sitting last in the Eastern Conference standings, Buffalo has won two straight following an 5-3 win over West-leading Winnipeg, and is 5-3 in its past eight outings.

“The way we’re playing now, these last 40 games is conducive to winning,” Ruff said.

He likened his desire to fix things to tinkering with his car and being a handyman around the house.

“I can honestly say it drives my wife crazy, when she thinks I can fix everything,” Ruff said with a laugh. “I’ve had to call a few electricians over time.”