Alex Ovechkin has had himself a productive last few weeks of December. With two consecutive hat tricks before the All-Star break, and putting himself back in Maurice Richard Trophy contention since returning, The Great Eight has climbed the NHL record books in the process. On Friday night in Ottawa against the Senators, Ovechkin moved up yet again, as he tied Hall of Famer Mark Messier for eighth all-time in Goals Scored.

The goal, Ovechkin’s 694th of his 15-season NHL career, came at the 10:27 mark of the second period, on assists from Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson. The goal gave the Capitals’ captain his 36th of the 2019-20 season and extended his goal-scoring streak to five games, during which time he has scored 10 times.

.@ovi8 scoring never gets old pic.twitter.com/sypVAuc1xM

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 1, 2020

The goal brings Ovechkin to 200 away from Wayne Gretzky’s NHL-record 894. The goal also marked the ninth time the 2004 first overall pick has scored on January 31, and puts him on track to go from 600 to 700 goals in just 156 games, which would mark the fewest games to make the jump by any member of the 700-goal club. In addition, he is on pace to reach 700 goals in just 1,145 games, which would make him the second-fastest after Gretzky (886).

Ovechkin is on pace to go from 600 to 700 goals in only 156 games, which would mark the fewest games to make that leap for any member of the 700-goal club. It also would be the second-fewest games to get from one 100-goal milestone to another in his career.

— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) February 1, 2020

Ovechkin is on track to reach the 700-goal mark in only 1,145 career games – which would be the second-fastest in NHL history. Wayne 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) February 1, 2020

Ovechkin has averaged 0.61 Goals Per Game in his career, ranking him fifth all-time in NHL history. This includes an NHL-best 0.58 Goals Per Game since turning 30-years old. His 10 goals in just five games marks the most goals the 34-year old left wing has ever scored in a five-game span in his career.

By Michael Fleetwood