Alex Ovechkin's 700th Goal, Hurricanes Win With Emergency Goalie, Top Highlights

After waiting for most of February to score his 700th career goal, Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin reached the milestone Saturday.

The 34-year-old endured a five-game scoreless streak before he struck for No. 699 on Thursday. His 700th tally came in the third period of Washington's 3-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils.

Ovechkin became the second-youngest and second-fastest player to hit the milestone, per NHL Public Relations.

While Ovechkin played in his 1,144th NHL game Saturday, 42-year-old goalie Dave Ayres appeared in his first as an emergency fill-in for the Carolina Hurricanes.

Ayres was called upon when both of Carolina's netminders went down with injuries, and he was able to help the Hurricanes to a win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Saturday's slate also featured five teams scoring five or more goals and 12 players with multiple tallies, including Jack Eichel of the Buffalo Sabres and the Boston Bruins' David Pastrnak, who moved back into first in the scoring race with his 44th and 45th goals.

Saturday NHL Scores

New Jersey 3, Washington 2

Philadelphia 4, Winnipeg 2

Buffalo 5, Pittsburgh 2

Carolina 6, Toronto 3

Montreal 3, Ottawa 0

New York Rangers 3, San Jose 2

Arizona 7, Tampa Bay 3

Nashville 4, Columbus 3 (final/shootout)

Vancouver 9, Boston 3

Vegas 5, Florida 3

Colorado 2, Los Angeles 1 (final/shootout)

Alex Ovechkin's 700th Goal

Dave Ayres Gets Win as Carolina's Emergency Goalie

Warren Foegele's 2-Goal Night

David Pastrnak Eludes Goalie for 44th Goal

Scott Laughton Nets a Pair 

Jack Eichel Beats Penguins with 2 Goals

Carey Price Shuts Out Ottawa

Jesper Fast Works Hard for Tap-In

Clayton Keller Leads Arizona's 7-Goal Output

Rocco Grimaldi Wins Shootout for Nashville

Tyler Toffoli Scores 1st Goals for Vancouver

Ovechkin Nets 700th Goal in Washington Defeat

Ovechkin's historic goal was of extra importance to the Capitals, as it tied the contest with the Devils at two goals apiece early in the third period.

Unfortunately for the Capitals, they were not able to finish off the victory at Prudential Center, as Damon Severson scored the game-winning goal with two minutes remaining.

Ovechkin's record tally came off a feed from Evgeny Kuznetsov. He detailed the moment after the game in conversation with Mike Vogel of the team's official website: "A good pass by Kuzy. I hit the net, and it hits the post and goes in. It's over, so we move on."

Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Jaromir Jagr, Brett Hull, Marcel Dionne, Phil Esposito and Mike Gartner are the other seven players to have reached the 700-goal mark. Ovechkin noted that he was honored to join the elite company but was shifting his focus to Sunday's showdown with the Pittsburgh Penguins, per NHL.com's Tom Gulitti.

"That's pretty good company, so I'm happy to be there," Ovechkin said. "But we have to focus on different things, and right now it's important points for us, and tomorrow [against the Pittsburgh Penguins] is going to be a big game."

Since Pittsburgh and Washington both lost Saturday, they remain deadlocked at the top of the Metropolitan Division. Sunday's meeting is one of three clashes between the rivals before the end of the regular season.

On an individual level, Ovechkin is in the hunt for the NHL scoring title. He netted his 42nd goal Saturday and is three back of Pastrnak and two behind Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Carolina Wins with Emergency Goalie

Dave Ayres turned into the most unlikely star of the season after James Reimer and Petr Mrazek went down with injuries.

The 42-year-old is a Zamboni driver at the Mattamy Athletic Center in Toronto and serves as a practice netminder for the Maple Leafs.

Ayres made his NHL debut in the second period and promised his new teammates that he would be prepared to hold on to the win in the final stanza, per the Toronto Sun's Lance Hornby.

"Their guy came in and said 'get ready,'" Ayres revealed. "I thought I'd never be nervous if this ever happened, but as you could tell, I couldn't stop a puck in the second. But I told the boys if I come in the third, I'll be ready to go."

Ayres finished with eight saves on 10 shots as he became the oldest NHL goalie to make his regular-season debut.

He described the moment as a "once in a lifetime" experience, per NHL PR:

Carolina needed the victory to keep pace with the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Islanders in the Eastern Conference wild-card race.

All three teams are level on 74 points, with the Islanders owning one game in hand on the Hurricanes and three on the Blue Jackets.

Sunday NHL Schedule

Pittsburgh at Washington (noon ET, NBC) 

Chicago at Dallas (3 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

Winnipeg at Buffalo (3 p.m. ET) 

San Jose at New York Islanders (5 p.m. ET, ESPN+) 

Calgary at Detroit (7 p.m. ET) 

St. Louis at Minnesota (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN) 

Vegas at Anaheim (10 p.m. ET, NBCSN) 

Edmonton at Los Angeles (10 p.m. ET)  

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from NHL.com.