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Alex Ovechkin turns attention towards second place Gordie Howe after scoring 768th goal against Blue Jackets

By Ian Oland

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March 17, 2022 11:42 pm

We have an update to The Gr8 Chase.

Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin scored in the second period of his Washington’s 7-2 blowout win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, Thursday.

The goal was Ovechkin’s 38th of the season and 768th of his career. Ovechkin now trails second-place Gordie Howe in the goals race by 33 and record-setter Wayne Gretzky by 126.

The goal comes two days after Ovi eclipsed third-place Jaromir Jagr (766) in a game against the New York Islanders to become the greatest European scorer of all time.

Ovi’s power-play goal, which came 10:44 in the period, was made possible by a heads-up backdoor feed by Conor Sheary standing along the end boards. Ovechkin collected Sheary’s pass wide open, skated the puck to the edge of the left faceoff circle, and fired a wrist shot past a helpless Elvis Merzlikins.

Ovi kissed his glove and pumped both of his arms down to his hips in celebration.

The PPG was Ovechkin’s 280th of his career — the most of all time.

With six goals in his last seven games, Ovechkin has pulled himself back into contention in the 2021-22 goals race. Ovi’s 38 goals sit fourth in the league, trailing only Auston Matthews’ 45, Chris Kreider’s 40, and Leon Draisaitl’s 39.

Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins became the 145th different goaltender Ovechkin has victimized in his 17-year career. Ovi pulled into a tie with Wayne Gretzky for fifth all-time in the category.

The Capitals’ next game is Friday against the Carolina Hurricanes. Ovechkin has 20 games remaining in the season to further make a dent into Gretzky and Howe’s goal totals. And maybe even try to hit 50 goals for the ninth time of his career.

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