Alex Ovechkin cannot stop breaking milestones.

Last season, Ovechkin was so close and yet so far from another milestone, scoring 49 goals. This season, Ovi was a man on a mission, and tonight against the Lightning, scored his 50th goal of the season, passing Brendan Shanahan for sole possession of 13th all-time on the NHL’s scoring list.

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Ovechkin scored after taking a pass from TJ Oshie and one-timing a shot past Andrei Vasilevskiy. Ovechkin leveled Lightning defenseman Braydon Coburn in front of the net as he followed through on his shot.

He gave Nicklas Backstrom a huge hug after scoring.

It’s the eighth time he’s hit that mark, and if he hits nine such seasons he’ll tie Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky for the most 50 goal seasons.

“It’s nice to be in those names. But again, my career is not over,” Ovechkin said after the game. “I have plenty years to go. When I’m going to be done, I’m going to think about it. But right now focus on the win.”

This is the first time Ovechkin has hit 50 since the 2016-17 season.

Less than two minutes later, Ovechkin scored again with a one-timer from his office. He leads the league with 51 tallies.

“It’s a situation that is playoff hockey so we have to set the tone and show them we can [win the Stanley Cup] again,” Ovechkin said.

After the game, Ovechkin posed with Nicklas Backstrom and TJ Oshie, who assisted on his milestone goal.

Another for the trophy case. 🐐

Eight 5️⃣0️⃣ goal seasons for @ovi8 #ALLCAPS #Gr8 pic.twitter.com/4lm6evDUTG

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 31, 2019

Ovi now needs 236 more goals to catch Gretzky. But the 2019-20 season could be a huge one for Ovechkin. If he scores 50 goals again, he could rocket up to eighth all-time in scoring, surpass 700 goals, and be one behind Mike Gartner’s 708. The names he could pass include Luc Robitaille, Mario Lemieux, Teemu Selanne, Mark Messier, and Steve Yzerman.

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps @ Tampa Bay Lightning

Headline graphic: Cara Bahniuk