Alex Ovechkin still has some way to go if he wants to become the NHL All-Time goal leader, but on Tuesday, he passed The Great One for one remarkable record.
The Russian superstar has dominated this season and has not slowed down one bit when it comes to scoring goals.
Earlier this season, he passed Gordie Howe for second All-Time in goalscoring, and the hunt for Wayne Gretzky was officially on.
Since then, he’s just kept on scoring, and despite the Capitals having a mediocre season, with the playoffs seeming more and more out of reach, one thing they can keep counting on is Ovechkin scoring goals.
Ovechkin played his 66th game of the season Tuesday, and once again, he reached 40 goals in a single season.
Ovechkin scored a 1st period goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and it marked the 40th goal of the season. But what’s most important is that he’s now reached the 40-goal plateau 13 times in his career.
With that, The Great Eight has surpassed Wayne Gretzky for the most 40-goal season in NHL history. When Wayne Gretzky retired, few people would’ve guessed that the record would ever be broken, but now here we are.
And despite it not being the record Ovechkin first had in mind, he was thrilled about it. When talking to reporter Tom Gulitti postgame, he didn’t hide his joy.
“Yeah, it’s a pretty cool moment. It doesn’t matter what kind of record it is. It’s a record, you know.”
Ovechkin then proceeded to absolutely burn Gulitti.
”How many records do you have?” He asked the reporter.
When Gulitti said he had zero records to his name, Ovechkin said:
“Yeah, so you see.”
Now, all that’s left for the Capitals icon is to surpass Wayne Gretzky in total amount of goals scored. He’s currently on 820 goals, and with the pace he’s on for right now, it won’t be more than two seasons until he gets there.
