Sports
Capitals Alex Ovechkin Becomes Eighth Player to Score 700 Goals
NHL's most prolific scorer of this generation reaches a new milestone as Alex Ovechkin approaches Wayne Gretzky's all-time scoring record
NEWARK, NJ – Alex Ovechkin scored his 700th goal on Saturday afternoon in the Washington Capitals’ 3-2 road loss against the New Jersey Devils. As he has done so many times in the past, Ovechkin scored on a blistering one-timer off a pass from teammate Evgeny Kuznetsov 4:50 into the third period to tie the game up.
He becomes both the second-youngest and second-fastest to join the NHL’s prestigious group that consists of only seven other players. However, the 34-year-old Capitals captain was the quickest to go from 600 goals to 700 as it took him only 151 games to do it – 15 less than Gretzky.
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The elite group Ovechkin joins is as follows:
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· Wayne Gretzky (894)
· Gordie Howe (801)
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· Jaromir Jagr (766)
· Brett Hull (741)
· Marcel Dionne (731)
· Phil Esposito (717)
· Mike Gartner (708)
- Alex Ovechkin (700)
“I’m here with pretty good company and I’m happy to be here,” Ovechkin said after the game. “It was a pretty good pass by (Kuznetsov) and I hit the post and it went in.”
Already a record eight-time winner of the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy awarded to the league’s leading goal scorer, the Capitals captain ranks third in the NHL with 42 goals scored this season. He trails 23-year-old David Pastrnak and 22-year-old Auston Matthews, who have 43 goals each.
“I didn’t even see (the goal),” explained Kuznetsov. “I just heard the post and then the crowd get loud.”
Kuznetsov says right now this goal ranks as his best memory with Ovechkin
“I believe that I will be talking about this goal until I get old,” the fellow Russian native added. “When I tell my kids of this goal, I will tell them that accidentally I was there.”
Ovechkin has an NHL-best 0.59 goals-per-game rate since his 30th birthday on Sept. 17, 2015. Among players in the 700-goal club, only two scored at a rate of 0.50 G/GP or higher from age 30 onward.
Gretzky’s all-time record for goals scored once seemed impossible for other players to reach, but this milestone goal for Ovechkin serves as a reminder to fans that it is not as far out as once thought. Ovechkin now trails Gretzky by only 194 goals and is well within striking distance if he stays healthy in the final years of his career.
