Washington Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin already owns the NHL’s all-time goal scoring record, after breaking Wayne Gretzky’s mark this past April. Now he’s also formed an exclusive club of which he’s the only member: the 900 goal scorer’s club.
Just 2:39 into the 2nd period of his team’s game vs. the St. Louis Blues, Ovi backhanded a rebound into the net to register his 3rd goal of the season, and 900th overall.
“A couple days ago somebody ask me, ‘Do you think about (900)?’ Of course, it’s huge number, no one ever did it in NHL history and to be the first player to ever do it, it’s a special moment,” Ovechkin said. “It’s nice it’s over to get it in the homestand so the fans, my family can be here. It’s pretty cool.”
Blues netminder Jordan Binnington attempted to keep the souvenir for himself, tucking the puck into the back of his pants. But the officials were having none of it, and quickly retrieved the historic piece of memorabilia.
“I don’t think I have lots of weight on my shoulders, I just try to play game, try to do as best as I can … 13 games, 14 games, you have plenty of games left, of course you’re going to score one goal,” Ovechkin said, regarding his slow start. “It’s nice to get it.”
An NHL veteran of over 1,500 games played in the regular season, the now 40 year old forward has been remarkably consistent over his career, rarely missing time, and notching a goal roughly every 1.7 games played.
Goal No. 100: Oct. 12, 2007 (game 167)
Goal No. 200: Feb. 5, 2009 (game 296)
Goal No. 300: April 5, 2011 (game 473)
Goal No. 400: Dec. 20, 2013 (game 634)
Goal No. 500: Jan. 10, 2016 (game 801)
Goal No. 600: March 12, 2018 (game 990)
Goal No. 700: Feb. 22, 2020 (game 1,144)
Goal No. 800: Dec. 13, 2022 (game 1,305)
Goal No. 900: Nov. 5, 2025 (game 1,504)
Since being drafted 1st overall by Washington in 2004, Ovechkin has led the league in goals scored 9 times, and scored 50+ on 9 different occasions as well. Up next for Washington is a date with Pittsburgh at 7:30pm ET on Thursday night.
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.