Washington Capitals celebrity Alex Ovechkin is on the doorstep of an NHL report that many thought was unbreakable.
The 39-year-old Ovechkin is closing in on Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL objectives report of 894. “The Nice One” scored his closing aim on March 29, 1999. “The Nice Eight” may very nicely surpass that mark earlier than the tip of the 2024-25 season.
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Ovechkin entered this season with 853 profession NHL objectives and began off purple scorching with 15 objectives in his first 18 video games. A broken fibula in November took him out of the lineup for nearly 5 weeks, however when he returned to the Capitals he did not miss a beat with 4 objectives in his first 5 video games again from harm.
Ovechkin’s newest aim, No. 891 of his profession, got here towards the Boston Bruins on Tuesday. He is now three objectives away from tying Gretzky and 4 objectives from breaking the report. The Capitals have eight video games remaining on their schedule after Sunday.
“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 report. “I imply, he is an incredible participant. He is an incredible aim scorer.”
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As he strikes nearer to breaking Gretzky’s report, 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 aim complete for every aim he scores for the remainder of his profession. Monumental Sports activities & Leisure, which owns the Capitals, will match each donation.
Ovechkin continues his chase for Gretzky’s mark on Wednesday towards the Carolina Hurricanes.
We’ll observe Ovechkin’s race to 894 objectives and past all season.
NHL top-10 in profession objectives
1. Wayne Gretzky (894)
2. Alex Ovechkin (891)
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)
Ovechkin in 2005. (Joel Richardson/The Washington Publish by way of Getty Pictures)
(The Washington Publish by way of Getty Pictures)
Remaining 2024-25 regular-season video games
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
Alex Ovechkin has scored on 180 completely different goaltenders since coming into the NHL in 2005. (Jamie Sabau/NHLI by way of Getty Pictures)
(Jamie Sabau by way of Getty Pictures)
Ovechkin milestone aim 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 internet)
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 tips 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
