Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin headed into the NHL All-Star bye week having recorded two consecutive hat tricks in as many games and moving further up on the NHL’s all-time Goals Scored List. On Wednesday Night, in a nationally-televised game at home against the Nashville Predators, Ovechkink moved further on the list, moving into ninth all-time in goals.
With a goal in the first period of the Caps’ Wednesday Night Hockey matchup against the Preds, Ovechkin scored the 35th goal of the 2019-20 season and 693rd of his 15-season career to pass Detroit Red Wings great Steve Yzerman for ninth on the NHL’s all-time Goals Scored list.
No. 6️⃣9️⃣3️⃣ & counting pic.twitter.com/5edwRYaBMI
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 30, 2020
The Capitals played a video on the jumbotron above center ice with a message from Yzerman himself:
Video: NBC Sports
The goal made Ovechkin the fourth player to record 35 or more goals in at least 12 seasons, joining former Capital Mike Gartner, Wayne Gretzky, and Marcel Dionne. He is also two goals shy of passing Mark Messier for the eighth-most goals in NHL history.
Alex Ovechkin is the 4th player in NHL history to record 35 goals in at least 12 seasons, joining Mike Gartner, Wayne Gretzky and Marcel Dionne. pic.twitter.com/5exV7rLENm
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 30, 2020
Ovechkin is inching ever closer to the 700-goal mark and is on pace to go from 600 goals in 157 games, which would make him the fastest player to ever reach the mark from the six-century total. He is also on pace to reach 700 goals in 1,146 games, which would be the second-fastest in league history.
Ovechkin is on pace to go from 600 to 700 goals in 157 games, which would mark the fewest games to reach the mark. It also would be the second-fewest games to get from one 100-goal milestone to another in his career (100 to 200, 130 games).
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) January 30, 2020
Ovechkin is on track to reach the 700-goal mark in 1,146 career games – which would be the second-fastest in NHL history. Gretzky (886 games) and Brett Hull (1,157 games) are the only players to hit the milestone in fewer than 1,200 games.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) January 30, 2020
By Michael Fleetwood
