Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin Scores 802nd Career Goal; In Sole Possession of Second Place on NHL’s All-Time Goals List

Posted on December 23, 2022 by Della Young

Well, The Great Eight has done it. Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin scored his 802nd career goal Friday night at Capital One Arena as the team clashed with the Winnipeg Jets. The 37-year-old is now in sole possession of second place on the NHL’s all-time goals list.

After scoring career goal No. 801 earlier in the evening and tying NHL great Gordie Howe, Ovechkin passed “Mr. Hockey” and moved into second place on the NHL’s all-time goals list with an empty-net goal as sixty seconds were left in the final frame.

The historic goal marked his 22nd goal of the season.

On behalf of the Howe family, Mark, Gordie Howe’s son, congratulated The Great Eight on the incredible milestone:

Following the game, the Jets lined up to congratulate Ovechkin.

Hear it from The Great Eight himself postgame with Al Koken:

Ovechkin is now 92 goals away from tying Wayne Gretzky for the most goals in NHL history and 93 goals to be the new leader.

Ovechkin’s sons, Sergei and Ilya, posed with their Dad with the milestone pucks:

From the Capitals

Ovechkin scored his 802nd goal in his 1,310th career game, passing Howe (1,767 GP) on the all-time goals list in 457 fewer games played. Ovechkin has averaged 0.61 goals per game during his 18-year career, the seventh-highest rate in NHL history among players with at least 200 goals. Howe averaged 0.45 goals per game during his career, while Gretzky averaged 0.60. Since turning 35 years old on Sept. 17, 2020, Ovechkin has maintained his career goals per game average, scoring 96 goals in 158 games played (0.61 G/GP). That marks the highest rate among players following their 35th birthday in NHL history.

Earlier this season, Ovechkin passed Howe on two other all-time lists. Ovechkin scored his 787th career goal on Nov. 5 versus Arizona, passing Howe (786 goals with Detroit) for the most goals with one franchise in NHL history, and scored his 122nd career game-winning goal on Oct. 24 at New Jersey to pass Howe for the second-most game-winning goals.

In NHL history, Ovechkin ranks first in power-play goals (292), overtime goals (25), road goals (409), game-opening goals (137), game-tying goals (140), and go-ahead goals (271), second in game-winning goals (124), empty-net goals (54) and multi-goal games (163), and fourth in even strength goals (505).

Ovechkin was selected by the Capitals in the first round, first overall, in the 2004 NHL Draft. The Moscow native has registered 1,451 points (802g, 649a) in 1,310 career games with Washington. Ovechkin is the Capitals’ franchise leader in games played, goals, points, playoff games played (147), playoff goals (72), and playoff points (141).

Since entering the NHL at the beginning of the 2005-06 season, Ovechkin leads the NHL in goals (802) and ranks second in points (1,451) and games played (1,310). Since 2005-06, he holds a 266-goal lead over the next closest player.

By Della Young

About Della Young

Della Young is an aspiring novelist and screenwriter who earned a BFA in Creative Writing from Full Sail University in 2021. She is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Screenwriting from Regent University and is writing her debut novel. Della comes from a family of big Capitals fans and became inspired to start writing for hockey in 2019. Follow Della on X: @dellayoung
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2 Responses to Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin Scores 802nd Career Goal; In Sole Possession of Second Place on NHL’s All-Time Goals List

  1. Anonymous says:
    December 23, 2022 at 11:53 pm

    It looked like it was a load off for Ovi. Probably the team as well.

    Reply
  2. Jon Sorensen says:
    December 24, 2022 at 12:03 am

    Reply

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