WASHINGTON, April 5 (UPI) -- Peter Bondra tallied a pair of goals Saturday night to become the all-time leading scorer for the Washington Capitals, who posted a 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the regular-season finale for both teams.
In his 13th season with the Capitals, Bondra has amassed 790 career points, surpassing Mike Gartner (789) as the leading scorer in franchise history.
It looked like Bondra would have to wait until next season to surpass Gartner, but he collected his 450th career goal at 6:44 of third period and scored into an empty net with 12 seconds to play as the Capitals overcame a 3-1 deficit.
Dainius Zubrus and Jeff Halpern scored 44 seconds apart with under two minutes left for the Capitals, who will face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the playoffs.
Washington finished with 92 points, seven more than last season, when it missed the playoffs.
Ville Nieminen, Richard Linter and Jamie Pushor scored for Pittsburgh, which finished with 65 points and missed the playoffs for the second straight season.
The Penguins enter the offseason with a cloud of uncertainity regarding the future of owner-superstar Mario Lemieux, who may opt for retirement. He was not with the team for Saturday night's game and has said he will make a decision about his playing career some time this summer.
