Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin surpassed yet another NHL legend with his 783rd career goal that he scored on Monday against the New Jersey Devils. He leaped over Gordie Howe for the second-most, game-winning goals in NHL history, trailing now just Jaromir Jagr for the top spot.
Watching from afar was his mother, Tatyana. The two-time Olympic basketball champion talked to the Russian outlet Match TV about the achievement.
“We are happy to hear this news,” Ovechkina said via Google Translation. “Let Sasha play, score, let him break all records. We never sleep at night when the next Washington match is taking place. We watched this game against New Jersey. We saw how Sasha overtook Gordie Howe in winning goals.”
Does Alex Ovechkin get tired from climbing all these all-time lists?
The @Capitals captain now trails only Jaromir Jagr for the most career game-winning goals in NHL history.#NHLStats: https://t.co/AAZUyvFEhJ pic.twitter.com/tUgvBx8wSt
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) October 25, 2022
For Ovechkin’s parents, Tatyana and Mikhail, back in Moscow that would mean they are staying up to watch his games from 2 am until about 4:30 am.
Ovi’s 783rd career goal brought him closer to another of Howe’s greatest marks in the NHL. Mr. Hockey is the all-time leader in goals scored by a player for just one team with 786 tallies for the Detroit Red Wings. Ovi, of course, has scored all 783 of his goals with the Caps.
“The main thing is that Sasha has loyalty to one team,” Ovechkina said. “In Russia, he only plays for Dynamo Moscow, and in the NHL only for Washington. Sasha cannot do otherwise and never runs from club to club.
“In general, Sasha is great, and I had the same options in my basketball career,” Ovechkina continued. “After all, I also had many proposals – to go to Leningrad and to Moscow Oblast. But I only played for Dynamo Moscow.”
Ovi was brought all the way up through Dynamo Moscow’s junior program until eventually making his Russian Super League debut with the big club during the 2001-02 season. He even returned to the club in 2012-13 when the NHL was going through a lockout. In total, he has played 182 games for Dynamo and 1,281 for the Capitals after being drafted first overall in the 2004 NHL Draft.
One question does remain and that’s where exactly he plans to finish his career. Ovi has said in the past he wants to play out the remainder of the five-year extension he signed with the Caps in 2021 and then retire after eventually re-joining Dynamo.
“I think I will continue playing for at least a few more years, and, of course, I hope my health is good, I would like to finish it here, with Dynamo Moscow,” Ovi told Russian Television International back in 2020.
So, what does his mom think? It doesn’t sound like she’s going to give that away.
“You, yourself, ask Sasha,” she said.
