Ovechkin tries for 700th goal again, wants win for Capitals

Welcome to NHL.com, the official site of the National Hockey LeagueBienvenue à LNH.com , le site officiel de la Ligue nationale de hockeyДобро пожаловать на NHL.com, официальный сайт Национальной хоккейной лигиTervetuloa NHL:n viralliselle nettisivustolle NHL.comiinVälkommen till NHL.com, NHL:s officiella web-sidaVítejte na NHL.com, oficiálních stránkách National Hockey LeagueVitajte na NHL.com, oficiálnych stránkach National Hockey LeagueWillkommen auf NHL.com, der offiziellen Seite der National Hockey LeagueBienvenido a NHL.com, el sitio oficial de la National Hockey LeagueDENVER -- Alex Ovechkin is trying not to think about how close he is to scoring his 700th NHL goal.So heading into the Washington Capitals' game against the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center on Thursday (9:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, EPSN+, SN360, SNE, SNP, ALT, NBCSWA, NHL.TV), Ovechkin's motivation is to help them rebound after losing their past two games and not the two goals he needs to reach the milestone."Right now, we're focusing on the two points," Ovechkin said after the Capitals morning skate. Before being held without a point in the past two games, the 34-year-old forward was on a remarkable run scoring 14 goals in seven games to pass Teemu Selanne (684), Mario Lemieux (690), Steve Yzerman (692) and Mark Messier (694) to climb from 12th to eighth on the NHL's all-time list.Video: LAK@WSH: Ovechkin earns natural hat trick in winPassing each Hockey Hall of Famer brought more questions about his 700th goal and more media attention, so it's understandable if Ovechkin is tired of talking about it."I think this one with him going through and bypassing some of the superstars he has in the League just with his most recent goals, this has taken on a lot more media attention and social media as well," Capitals coach Todd Reirden said. Pastrnak passed Ovechkin and Matthews by scoring three goals in a 4-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday.Backstrom, who has assisted on 259 of Ovechkin's goals, said he doesn't think the Capitals have been forcing the puck to Ovechkin the past two games to try to get him to 700.