Senators rout Capitals 7-1, spoiling Alex Ovechkin's 1,500th game and denying him a 900th goal

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dylan Cozens and Drake Batherson scored twice each for the Ottawa Senators, who spoiled Alex Ovechkin’s 1,500th game by routing the Washington Capitals 7-1 on Saturday night.

Ovechkin was also one shy of the 900-goal milestone, but Ottawa goalie Linus Ullmark kept him and almost everyone else in a red jersey off the scoreboard. Shane Pinto, Nick Cousins and Thomas Chabot also scored for the Senators. Trevor van Riemsdyk managed a third-period goal for Washington.

The Capitals trailed 1-0 early in the second period when the game unraveled on them. Pinto drove the net and crashed into Washington goalie Charlie Lindgren, with the puck trickling over the goal line amid the chaos. When the Capitals challenged, officials ruled defenseman Jakob Chychrun had knocked Pinto into Lindgren, so the goal stood.

The Capitals were assessed a penalty for the unsuccessful challenge, and Cozens scored a minute into the power play to make it 3-0. Then Cousins got loose on a clean breakaway for the Senators’ third goal in 2:55.

Frustrations boiled over late in the second when there was some pushing and shoving next to the Washington net. Lindgren was part of that entanglement, and then Ullmark skated the length of the ice to get involved, although an official pulled him away quickly and he never squared off with Lindgren or anyone else.

The Senators came out of that incident with a power play, and Batherson scored on that early in the third to make it 5-0. After van Riemsdyk got the Capitals on the board, Chabot made it 6-1. Then Batherson added one more.