The Washington Capitals started hot against the New York Rangers on Tuesday, getting out to a 3-1 first-period lead. Two of those goals were scored by Alex Ovechkin, bringing his career total to 857. That is 37 short of Wayne Gretzky's all-time record of 894. The flurry from the veteran garnered great fan reactions on social media.
@Mrrehman881 is amazed by Ovechkin's continued excellence despite his age. “He is proving why he is one of the greatest goal scorers in NHL history.”
@MetaRidesInc is too, a little less subtly. “Dude is an AARP member too.” The Capitals great just turned 39, so not quite.
@poxloop is ready to call the race now. “Ovechkin is the goat.”
Ovechkin entered the season 41 goals short of tying the record. The two goals on Tuesday were his third and fourth of the season, bringing that number to 37. The Capitals have built a team around him through free agency and trades in part to get Ovechkin the goal record.
Capitals' main goal is 895 goals
Alex Ovechkin has been with the Capitals for his entire 19-year career. He won the franchise's only Stanley Cup in 2018 and brought them on many other playoff runs. He is undoubtedly the greatest player in franchise history and is being treated as such down the stretch of his career.
It would have been easy for the Capitals to trade Ovechkin in 2020. His contract was expiring, the Cup team was being dismantled around him, and he would still bring them value. Instead, they signed him to a lengthy extension that ends this season in part for the record.
While Ovechkin is not the dominant threat he once was, he can still score plenty of goals to reach the magic number. He scored 42 goals as recently as 2022-23 and cracked 30 in a down year last season. The Gretzky chase is getting real and fans are loving it.