Alex Ovechkin has scored his 700th goal, becoming the eighth player in NHL history to reach the mark. Ovechkin scored the historic tally on New Jersey Devils goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood. Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nick Jensen recorded the assists.
After Ovi scored, he kissed his glove (in honor of his late brother Sergei), went to one knee, and pumped both of his arms to celebrate.
The Capitals emptied the bench and mobbed Ovechkin at center ice as Devils fans at Prudential Center rose to their feet to salute the Russian machine’s accomplishment.
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The goal was made possible by some great forechecking by Tom Wilson below the hash marks. After Nick Jensen sent the puck back around the net to continue the forecheck, Evgeny Kuznetsov found Ovechkin on the wing. Ovi beat Blackwood clean for the goal.
Alex 👑 OvechKING 💯💯💯💯💯💯💯 pic.twitter.com/YCQHGZblsG
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 22, 2020
The team celebration was emotional.
The Capitals mob Alex Ovechkin after he scores his 700th career goal 😢 pic.twitter.com/Ixnr3j0lCP
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) February 22, 2020
Ovechkin later saluted the crowd during the TV timeout.
Even on the road, we all salute you, @ovi8. #700VI pic.twitter.com/3QX0BYlURj
— NHL (@NHL) February 22, 2020
— Tom Kaz (@LuceAntica) February 22, 2020
Alex Ovechkin now has 42 goals on the season. He has scored at least 40 goals in 11 seasons. Only Wayne Gretzky had more (12).
Ovechkin becomes the second-fastest player to reach 700 goals, doing so in 1,144 games. Only Wayne Gretzky did it quicker in 886 NHL contests.
Ovechkin is the fastest player ever to go from 600 to 700 goals, doing so in 154 games.
Since entering the league in 2004-05, Alex Ovechkin has scored nearly 250 more goals than the next player, Sidney Crosby. He has missed fewer games than all but two players. He has scored 28 hat tricks in his career (27 in the regular season) and holds eighth place in all-time hat tricks.
Here’s the all-time goal-scoring list:
| Player | Goals |
|---|---|
| Wayne Gretzky | 894 |
| Gordie Howe | 801 |
| Jaromir Jagr | 766 |
| Brett Hull | 741 |
| Marcel Dionne | 731 |
| Phil Esposito | 717 |
| Mike Gartner | 708 |
| Alex Ovechkin | 700 |
| Mark Messier | 694 |
| Steve Yzerman | 692 |
Former Capital Mike Gartner, who ended his career with 708 goals, is up next for Ovechkin to chase for seventh all-time.
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