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Arguably the most captivating story in the NHL right now is Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goal-scoring record.
The 39-year-old Ovechkin has been one of the NHL’s most prolific scorers since his 52-goal rookie season back in 2005 after Washington drafted him No. 1 overall out of Russia.
Since then, Ovechkin has racked up nine 50-goal seasons, and following Thursday’s 3-2 road win over the Philadelphia Flyers, he’s now just seven goals away from tying Gretzky’s 894 career goals mark.
Ovechkin opened the scoring against the Flyers with a little more than five minutes left in the opening period when he got off an easy tap-in from the lower left slot to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead.
The goal brought him one step closer to Gretzky’s record, but it also gave Ovechkin a record of his own. The official ESPN “SportsCenter” X account tweeted during the game that Ovechkin had logged his 15th season with 35 or more goals, the most in NHL history.
A three-time winner of the Hart Memorial Trophy, given annually to the Most Valuable Player in the NHL, Ovechkin started his career with five straight seasons of 35-plus goals, followed by six more from 2013 to 2019, and three more since 2021.
Ovechkin also joined some elite company with his latest goal, becoming the third player in NHL history to record 240 or more first-period goals, joining Gretzky (241) and Phil Esposito (240).
His 52 goals in 78 career games against the Flyers is also the second-most goals he’s scored against a single franchise. He’s tallied 56 goals in 74 career games against the Winnipeg Jets/Atlanta Thrashers.
The 13-time All-Star has been red-hot in the month of March, logging five goals and 10 points in 10 games, including a three-game point streak.
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