Alex Ovechkin scored in the first period of the Washington Capitals' home game against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night, giving him 699 career goals.

The goal snapped a five-game streak without a point (tied for the longest of his career) for the Capitals star. He last scored Feb. 4, collecting a hat trick against the Los Angeles Kings.

Thursday night's game is ongoing.

Only seven players have scored 700: Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Jaromir Jagr, Brett Hull, Marcel Dionne, Phil Esposito and Mike Gartner.

Ovechkin's goal is his 22nd against Carey Price, tied for the third-most in his career against a single goalie. The only goaltenders he has scored more goals against in his career are Marc-Andre Fleury and Henrik Lundqvist (24 each).

The world No. 1 is out for a little bit of revenge in Mexico City. Here's how things look after the first round of the WGC-Mexico Championship, where Rory McIlroy is in position to improve upon last year's runner-up result:

Leaderboard: Rory McIlroy (-6), Bubba Watson (-4), Justin Thomas (-4), Bryson DeChambeau (-3), Louis Oosthuizen (-3), Billy Horschel (-3), Corey Conners (-3)

What it means: McIlroy got left in the dust last year behind Dustin Johnson, but he was not alone in that distinction. After a solid week at Riviera in his return to world No. 1, the Ulsterman was firing on all cylinders Thursday en route to building a two-shot lead. A winner already this year at the WGC-HSBC Champions, McIlroy is looking for his second WGC title in as many chances by capturing the lone WGC event he has yet to win.

Round of the day: McIlroy got things going quickly with an eagle on his second hole of the day, and he only dropped one shot on a day where many in the elite field struggled to break par. While the leaderboard was tightly packed for much of the afternoon, McIlroy distanced himself with three birdies over his final four holes, holing 51 feet of putts in the process.

Best of the rest: Like McIlroy, Watson thrived on the greens at Chapultepec, taking just 21 putts to complete his round of 67. Watson surprisingly missed the cut last week at Riviera, where he had won three times since 2014, but he bounced back Thursday with a round that included five birdies against just a single bogey.

Biggest disappointment: It does not appear that Dustin Johnson will be back in the winner's circle come Sunday. A winner at this event in 2017 and 2019, DJ has dominated Chapultepec's brief history but was a shell of his former self en route to a 5-over 76 in the opening round. Johnson made only one birdie all day, trails McIlroy by 11 shots and beat only four players among the 72-man field.

Main storyline heading into Friday: McIlroy remains the man to watch. Coming off a year that included four victories, he has hardly lost a step now that the calendar reads 2020. Further separation could cement his status as the man to beat on a course where only one player came within five shots of him a year ago. But don't look past Thomas, a playoff runner-up here two years ago who has already won twice this season.

Shot of the day: Paul Casey took advantage of an easy opener Thursday, hitting his tee shot on the 303-yard first hole to 18 feet. The subsequent eagle helped the Englishman to a 2-under 69 in the opening round.

Quote of the day: "I got beat last year, I didn't lose. I played pretty well. Hopefully this year I can go one better." - McIlroy

MEXICO CITY – Following his brush with the Rules of Golf at the Hero World Challenge in December, Patrick Reed has been forced to respond to criticism from many circles, but following another wave of second-guessing, the American seems to have said everything he plans to about the incident.

After his opening round at the WGC-Mexico Championship, Reed was asked to respond to criticism from world No. 2 Brooks Koepka and former CBS analyst Peter Kostis.

“I said what I have to say about what happened in the Bahamas, and at the end of the day, all I'm trying to do is go out and play good golf and trying to win a golf championship and hopefully run [leader Rory McIlroy] down,” Reed said following a first-round 69 that left him tied for eighth place in Mexico.

In a town hall interview this week on SiriusXM PGA Tour radio, Koepka was asked about Reed’s penalty for improving his lie in a bunker last year in the Bahamas. “Yeah. I don’t know what he was doing, building sand castles in the sand,” he said. “But you know where your club is. I took three months off and I can promise you I know if I touch sand. If you look at the video, obviously he grazes the sand twice and then he still chops down on it.”

In a recent episode of the No Laying Up podcast Kostis added, “I've seen Patrick Reed improve his lie, up close and personal, four times now.”

MEXICO CITY – Rory McIlroy this week at the WGC-Mexico Championship became the first high-profile player to take a hard stance against a proposed new tour,  and the early feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

“I received some nice messages,” he said following his first round at Club de Golf Chapultepec. “I wasn't hoping for anything. I was just sort of providing my point of view and getting it off my chest, and that's what I felt. I wasn't trying to do anything or prove a point or try to get any sort of praise.

“I've sort of been sick of talking about it for the last few months, and I'm happy that everyone knows where I stand on that, and I'm happy that I know where I stand on it.”

On Wednesday, when asked about the Premier Golf League, the world No. 1 said he didn’t “like it” and that he was “out” of the proposed league which is attempting to woo the game’s top players away from the PGA Tour and European Tour.

Specifically, McIlroy said he didn’t like the idea of giving up the autonomy of being an independent contractor and that he valued his legacy over any potential financial gain.

McIlroy said he received numerous messages regarding his comments and when asked if one of those messages was from PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, he cracked smile. “Maybe,” he answered.

Former U.S. women's national team goalkeeper Hope Solo is among the first-time eligible players on the ballot for the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Solo, dismissed from the team following the 2016 Olympics, joins fellow U.S. national team members Brad Davis, Whitney Engen, Herculez Gomez and Clarence Goodson among 14 players first-time eligible players on the 42-person ballot.

Arguably one of the most successful goalkeepers on the international stage, Solo made 202 appearances with the national team with 153 wins and an international-record 102 shutouts. During the 2015 World Cup championship run, she allowed three goals in seven games with five shutouts.

But her career was marked at times by controversy, and her contract with the national team was not renewed after the Brazil Games, when she called the Swedish team "cowards" for taking a defensive posture against the defending gold medalists.

Former MLS players Mike Magee, Carlos Ruiz, Nat Borchers, Conor Casey, Justin Mapp, Jamison Olave and Robbie Rogers also are on the ballot for the first time, as are Women's Professional Soccer league players Jen Buczkowski and Kelly Smith.

LA Galaxy President Chris Klein, who played for the U.S. and in Major League Soccer, and former national team defender Kate Markgraf, currently general manager of the U.S. women's national team, are among six players in their final year of eligibility along with ex-U.S. forward Clint Mathis.

A player must appear on two-thirds of the ballots to gain election. Among the holdovers are LA Galaxy star David Beckham, current U.S. national team coach Gregg Berhalter, U.S. captain Carlos Bocanegra, defender Steve Cherundolo and New York Red Bulls star Thierry Henry.

Gomez, currently an ESPN commentator, was on the U.S. roster for the 2010 World Cup and had a 17-year pro career in Mexico and MLS. He was on the Seattle Sounders team that won the MLS Cup in 2016. Goodsen, a defender, also played in 2010 in South Africa and made 46 national team appearances.

Davis played 15 years in MLS and made 17 appearances on the national team. The left winger was part of the squad that played in the 2014 World Cup.

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Engen's national team career spanned six years and included the 2011 and 2015 World Cups.

Voters include current and past men's and women's national team coaches, MLS and National Women's Soccer League head coaches with four years of top-level head coaching experience in the U.S., MLS and NWSL management and commissioners. the USSF president, all Hall of Famers and select media.

Ballots for the veteran and builder categories will be released later.

Sacramento Kings forward Marvin Bagley III will be out at least another three weeks with a left foot sprain, the team announced Thursday.

Bagley continues to progress but is not ready to return, the team said, adding that another update would be provided in three weeks.

Bagley, taken by the Kings with the No. 2 pick in the 2018 draft, has played just 13 games this season, averaging 14.2 points and 7.5 rebounds.

He originally injured the foot in December and missed eight games. When he returned, he aggravated the injury after four games and has not played since.

Bagley also missed 22 games with a broken thumb suffered in the season opener.

Bagley was on the All-Rookie first team last season, averaging 14.9 points and 7.6 rebounds.

Kyrie Irving will undergo season-ending surgery on his right shoulder, Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks said Thursday.

Marks said the decision was made after Irving had visited with a specialist the past few days.

"He's obviously upset about this, and we're here to support him, support the process, moving forward with him and the rehabilitation," Marks said.

Irving missed 26 consecutive games earlier this season with a right shoulder impingement. He said the pain started during the Nets' Nov. 4 game against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Irving saw an Arizona-based specialist in December and received a cortisone shot on Dec. 24. He said at the time that he hoped the cortisone would eliminate an immediate need for surgery.

Irving returned to action Jan. 12 and played nine games before suffering a right knee sprain in a loss to the Washington Wizards on Feb. 1, which turned out to be his final game of the season.

"I think Kyrie even mentioned a couple times that he's been playing through pain," Marks said. "He's been playing, and we got to give him a lot of credit for that, pushing through. He wants to be out there with his guys. It gets to the point where you say enough is enough, and again it goes to long-term health, and the best prognosis for him right now is, let's shut him down and get this taken care of once and for all."

Irving averaged 27.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.4 assists in 20 games this season.

Despite Irving's shortened season, Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson said he was able to learn that Irving "was better than I even thought" and expressed optimism for the team's future.

"Faster than I thought, more skilled than I thought, higher-level competitor than I thought, much more physical than I thought," Atkinson said of Irving. "I don't think people give him enough credit how physical he is on both ends, how active he is defensively, what an attacker he is -- that bodes really well for the future. I really love the player, and I feel like we have a really good relationship, so we're in a good place there. Obviously, you want more reps, more time with him, but we'll have time in the offseason too, obviously, to connect. And when he gets healthy, we'll work with him a little bit."

Marks said he was disappointed that he and the Nets (25-28) have gotten so little of a look at their full team during what he called "a roller-coaster ride of a season." In addition to Irving, guard Caris LeVert missed seven weeks with a right thumb injury, and forward Wilson Chandler sat out 25 games due to a suspension.

Kevin Durant, who signed a four-year contract worth up to $164 million with the Nets in the offseason, also is not expected to play this season because of a ruptured right Achilles tendon, which he suffered in Game 5 of the NBA Finals in June, his final game with the Golden State Warriors.

ESPN's Malika Andrews contributed to this report.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Coming down to the finish of the 62nd annual Daytona 500 Monday night, crew chief Chris Gabehart wasn’t sure what tricks his driver Denny Hamlin had left up his sleeve.

After all, Hamlin was the only Toyota driver left in a sea of seven Ford Mustangs among the top eight heading into a double-overtime restart to conclude NASCAR’s biggest event.

But as it turned out, a little luck and a well-timed side-draft on Hamlin’s part were enough to propel the No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry past Ryan Blaney and into victory lane, earning both Hamlin and Gabehart a second-straight Daytona 500 triumph.

Hamlin edged out Blaney by .014 seconds in the second-closest finish in the history of The Great American Race to open up his second NASCAR Cup Series season working with Gabehart.

For the crew chief in question, he was quick to note his good fortune at being paired with Hamlin in the first place, let alone the fact that the duo has now topped NASCAR’s biggest race in back-to-back years.

“I told somebody coming up pit road, I’m not going to buy any lottery tickets for the rest of my life,” Gabehart joked during the post-race winner’s press conference. “I think it’s amazing that I’ve won my second in as many Daytona 500s as a crew chief. A lot of people don’t even get a chance to win one.

“But for me personally, this one is honestly way more special for me,” he continued. “The first one was my first race as crew chief for the (No.) 11 FedEx Camry with Denny, and you just have so many great resources behind you, it’s really just riding the wave from all of that. I was trying to figure out what was going on, and I felt like Denny and the team were doing all the work, to be honest with you.

“That one I felt very, very lucky to receive.”

This time, however, there was as much or more skill involved than there was luck.

Hamlin stayed up front most of the afternoon, strategically finding his way to the front at the start of the second stage on Monday and leading a race-high 79 laps of the 209 run at Daytona Int’l Speedway.

It was a quietly-dominant performance the likes of which Hamlin and Gabehart have become known for lately, with the duo having won seven of the last 37 races in the NASCAR Cup Series together.

Monday was just the crowning achievement of a run that Gabehart said gives him a firm place among the best crew chiefs in the NASCAR Cup Series garage area.

“The way I look at it, 365 days later and after putting together the season that we put together in 2019 as a team … with me being fortunate enough to be asked to lead that team, this one is so much more valuable to me,” Gabehart noted. “I feel like I’ve earned this one. I feel like I belong now.

“I feel like this team is capable of excellence, and this one means a lot more to me personally.”