Despite how down to earth he may seem, Alex Ovechkin‘s play on the ice is anything but relatable.
During the Capitals’ 5-2 win over the Minnesota Wild Thursday night, the Caps legend tallied points on four of the team’s five goals, giving him 1,100 (592g, 508a) in his career. Ovechkin also scored his 34th goal in the 57th game of his age-32 season.
Not only is Ovi defying age regression, he has more goals this season than he had all of last season and there’s 25 games left. 👀
Ovechkin’s first point came off a primary assist on Tom Wilson’s first period goal. In the neutral zone, Ovechkin sprung Wilson down the wing with speed. #TopLineTom then snapped a laser to the top corner of the net, beating goaltender Devan Dubnyk.
Alex Ovechkin’s only goal of the game came after a beautiful pass from Andre Burakovsky. Ovechkin’s shot squeaked by Dubnyk to give the Caps a 2-0 lead. The Russian machine has 12 goals in 7 games against Dubynk and 15 tallies in 14 career games against Minnesota.
It was Ovechkin’s 592nd career goal.
In the third period, Ovechkin received the primary assist on Nicklas Backstrom’s 15th goal of the season. After some chaos in the offensive zone, Ovechkin rifled a shot on net. Backtrom deposited the rebound.
Ovechkin earned point no. 1,100 after receiving a secondary assist on Tom Wilson’s empty-net goal, his second tally of the evening. Ovechkin made a good defensive play, deflecting a Wild skater’s pass to Nicklas Backstrom. The Caps center found Wilson who deposited the puck into the yawning net.
The game marked Ovechkin’s 24th career four-plus point game. His most recent four-point effort was December 6 vs Chicago. Four of the 24 were four-goal games. Zero were 0-goal games. Ovechkin also has the most four-point games among all Russian-born NHL players of all-time.
“Ice is good here,” Ovechkin said when explaining his success in Minnesota. “Atmosphere is good, and I have good luck here too.”
Ovechkin’s success is staggering when considering some of the other stats that were published after he reached the 1,100-point milestone.
Via the Capitals:
Ovechkin became the 61st player in NHL history to reach the 1,100-point milestone, reaching the feat in his 978th career game. Only 23 players required fewer games to accumulate 1,100 career points, with Jaromir Jagr (825 games, played on Nov. 30, 2001) the last to hit the mark in less than 1,000 games. Additionally, Ovechkin, who on Jan. 11, 2017, became the lone Capitals player to compile 1,000 career points (880 GP), became the 26th player in NHL history to require fewer than 100 contests to move from 1,000 to 1,100 (98 GP). Ovechkin is the only player to reach the 1,100 point mark that made his NHL debut in this millennium (NHL debut: Oct. 5, 2005).
Ovechkin is also on pace for 93 points this season, which would be his highest total since the 2009-10 season (109 points, 50g, 59a). Additionally, it would be the first time he’s averaged over a point per game in a season since the 2013-14 season, when he recorded 79 points (51g, 28a) in 78 games. Ovechkin is looking to record his eighth 50-goal season of his career. Only Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky have more 50-goal seasons, each with nine. No other player has at least seven. Ovechkin sits at 592 career goals, and if he scores eight goals within his next 21 games, he could become the fourth player in NHL history to record 600 career goals in under 1,000 games.
Alex Ovechkin's 4-point night Thursday gave him 1100 for his career & moved him onto this list of players who spent the majority of their careers at LW pic.twitter.com/3EiccBZUzu
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) February 16, 2018
Alex Ovechkin had a 1G-3A night vs the #Wild, helping the @Capitals to a 5-2 win & moving into 1st on this list of superb games by a Russian-born NHL'er pic.twitter.com/wpcpRuHFA9
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) February 16, 2018
Alex Ovechkin makes it 2-0 @Capitals vs MIN, getting his 182nd career even strength road goal- passes Jari Kurri for 9th most ever by a winger (16th most overall)
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) February 16, 2018
… #Caps Ovechkin would become just 5th player in NHL history age 32 or older to record 50G/40A season… (and just the second in the last 40 years) https://t.co/wDcRTplNTg
— Ben Raby (@BenRaby31) February 16, 2018
#Caps Alex Ovechkin records his 1,100th point in his 978th career game (592 G, 508 A). pic.twitter.com/Adbx5LiWVW
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) February 16, 2018
Building that @Capitals legacy. Congrats to @ovi8 on notching his 1,100th NHL point with a four-point game last night! pic.twitter.com/jxNZbQVzpX
— NHLPA (@NHLPA) February 16, 2018
The points just keep on coming for @ovi8. That's now 1100 points for The Great 8!#NHLMilestones via @SAPSports: https://t.co/PK0RCd0J5x pic.twitter.com/kE0ZFv1eCT
— NHL (@NHL) February 16, 2018
Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Wild
Headline photo: @NHLPA
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