The Washington Capitals earned a critical two points on Wednesday night against the Ottawa Senators in a heated Eastern Conference playoff race — and Alex Ovechkin made even more history in the process.
The captain scored his 25th goal of the season, the 20th time he's scored that many goals in his storied 21-year NHL career. He joined Gordie Howe for the most in league history, per Capitals PR.
Fellow star forward Tom Wilson, who tallied the game-winner and has been joined at the hip with Ovechkin for much of his career, shared a perfect reaction to the milestone.
“I don’t get tired of [the history], do you?” Wilson told reporters postgame, per Russian Machine Never Breaks' Ian Oland. “It keeps you coming back to the rink, gives you something to write about. It’ll be quiet when he’s not playing anymore. You’ll have to come up with some different stories.”
Ovi is also the NHL's sixth player with 25 goals or more in a campaign at age 40 or older, joining “Howe, Johnny Bucyk, Teemu Selanne, Jaromir Jagr and Dean Prentice,” per NHL.com. He's up to 25 goals and 52 points in 69 games in 2025-26.
The Russian scored the historic goal midway through the second period, making the score 1-0 after deflecting a Rasmus Sandin shot past Ottawa netminder Linus Ullmark. Washington wouldn't look back, with Wilson making it 2-0 late in the frame.
After the Senators cut the lead in half late in the third period, the team potted two empty net tallies — one by Aliaksei Protas and another by defenseman Cole Hutson in his NHL debut.
It was a memorable night at Capital One Arena for various reasons, with Ovechkin adding even more goal-scoring history to his incredible resume, and Hutson scoring a goal of his own in his first tilt in the big leagues.
Also, importantly, the Capitals got the two points, which they desperately needed. With 13 games left in their 2025-26 regular-season, Washington is 34-27-8 and six points back of the East's final wildcard berth.
The quest to keep postseason puck in the nation's capital continues against the visiting New Jersey Devils on Friday night.
