Washington Capitals celebrity Alex Ovechkin is on the doorstep of an NHL scoring document that many thought was unbreakable.
The 39-year-old Ovechkin is closing in on Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL targets document of 894. “The Nice One” scored his closing purpose on March 29, 1999. “The Nice Eight” may very properly surpass that mark 26 years later.
Ovechkin entered the 2024-25 NHL season with 853 profession NHL targets. He began the season off red-hot with 15 targets in 18 video games. However after struggling a broken fibula in November, he missed 5 weeks. That point off did not have an effect on his goal-scoring prowess: He recorded 4 targets in his first 5 video games again from damage.
On Tuesday, Ovechkin acquired one purpose nearer with the 889th of his profession, lighting the lamp to tie the sport late within the third interval towards the Winnipeg Jets. He’s now six targets away from passing Gretzky with 11 video games remaining within the common season.
“It is only a matter of time, whether or not it is late this yr, early subsequent yr, every time,” Gretzky told NHL.com earlier this season about Ovechkin’s probabilities of breaking his document. “I imply, he is an amazing participant. He is an amazing purpose scorer.”
As he approaches Gretzky’s document, Ovechkin has partnered with Hockey Fights Most cancers and the V Basis for Most cancers Analysis to launch “THE GR8 CHASE for Victory Over Cancer.” The marketing campaign will see Ovechkin donate a greenback quantity equal to his profession NHL purpose complete for every purpose he scores for the remainder of his profession. Monumental Sports activities & Leisure, which owns the Capitals, will match each donation.
After going scoreless Saturday towards the Florida Panthers, Ovechkin will proceed his chase for Gretzky’s mark on Tuesday towards the Winnipeg Jets.
We’ll monitor Ovechkin’s race to 894 targets and past all season.
NHL top-10 in profession targets
1. Wayne Gretzky (894)
2. Alex Ovechkin (889)
3. Gordie Howe (801)
4. Jaromir Jagr (766)
5. Brett Hull (741)
6. Marcel Dionne (731)
7. Phil Esposito (717)
8. Mike Gartner (708)
9. Mark Messier (694)
10. Steve Yzerman (692)
Remaining 2024-25 regular-season video games
Thu, Mar 27: at Minnesota, 8 p.m. ET
Solar, Mar 30: vs. Buffalo, 3 p.m. ET
Tue, Apr 1: at Boston, 7 p.m. ET
Wed, Apr 2: at Carolina, 7 p.m. ET
Fri, Apr 4: vs. Chicago, 7 p.m. ET
Solar, Apr 6: at Islanders, 12:30 p.m. ET
Thu, Apr 10: vs. Carolina, 7:30 p.m. ET
Sat, Apr 12: at Columbus, 7 p.m. ET
Solar, Apr 13: vs. Columbus, 6 p.m. ET
Tue, Apr 15: at Islanders, 8 p.m. ET
Thu, Apr 17: at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. ET
Ovechkin milestone purpose timeline
No. 1: Oct. 2, 2005 vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (Pascal Leclaire)
No. 50: April 13, 2006 vs. Atlanta Thrashers (Mike Dunham)
No. 100: Oct. 12, 2007 vs. New York Rangers (Henrik Lundqvist)
No. 200: Feb. 5, 2009 (Jonathan Fast)
No. 300: April 5, 2011 (James Reimer)
No. 400: Dec. 20, 2013 (empty web)
No. 500: Jan. 10, 2016 (Andrew Hammond)
No. 600: March 12, 2018 (Connor Hellebuyck)
No. 700: Feb. 22, 2020 (Mackenzie Blackwood)
No. 800: Dec. 13, 2022 (Petr Mrazek)
Hat methods by season (32 profession)
2005-06: 1
2006-07: 1
2007-08: 3
2008-09: 3
2009-10: 1
2010-11: 1
2011-12: 0
2012-13: 2
2013-14: 1
2014-15: 0
2015-16: 2
2016-17: 2
2017-18: 3
2018-19: 3
2019-20: 4
2020-21: 0
2021-22: 1
2022-23: 2
2023-24: 0
2024-25: 2
