Welcome to the NHL On Tap, a daily look at the games on the NHL schedule. There are nine games on the schedule for Thursday, including two nationally televised in the United States. Thursday also marks the 17th week of "NHL Coast to Coast," a weekly whip-around studio show on Prime Video in Canada.

Alex Ovechkin scored his 879th career goal to move within 16 of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goals record to help the Washington Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3

Matvei Michkov and Alex Ovechkin had already faced off twice in their NHL careers before Thursday night, but neither meeting (both games were in late October) lived up to the billing.

Alex Ovechkin continues his chase for the NHL all-time goals record for the Capitals (34-11-7), who have a 13-game home point streak (9-0-4). Ovechkin scored his 877th career goal in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday to move within 18 of passing Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894.