Alex Ovechkin tied and passed Gordie Howe in front of his home fans.
Ovechkin scored a no-look, empty netter with exactly one minute left in the game to give Ovechkin second on the NHL’s all-time goals list.
The goal was Ovechkin’s 54th career empty-net goal.
The play happened after Ovechkin missed the empty-net seconds before while taking a pot shot from the Capitals’ defensive zone. Ovi’s long-range shot pinged off the right post and ended up being an icing.
On the next play down the ice, Ovechkin unselfishly passed to Evgeny Kuznetsov. Kuzy didn’t want the goal however, passing backward into traffic to try and get the puck back to Ovi.
Ovi blindly shot into the empty net for the goal.
the no-look lmao pic.twitter.com/4Ubg1U8Of6
— Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) December 24, 2022
Kuzy picked up the milestone puck.
Alex Ovechkin’s family — including his two young children Sergei and Ilya — were there. His mom and dad Tatyana and Mikhail were watching from home in Moscow.
Ilya Ovechkin could be seen waving to Alex Ovechkin on the ice after he scored his 802nd career goal. Ilya is being held by Nastya Ovechkina while Sergei Ovechkin is being held by Varvara Orlova, Dmitry Orlov's wife. pic.twitter.com/1Sb3LO42Fp
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) December 24, 2022
The NHL allowed the Capitals to stop the game to air a video from Gordie Howe’s son, Mark Howe, congratulating Ovechkin for what he accomplished.
From the son of Mr. Hockey himself, Mark Howe congratulates the #Gr8 on #Gr802#ALLCAPS | @LeidosInc pic.twitter.com/tG1AV7YpGp
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 24, 2022
After the game, the Winnipeg Jets lined up to shake Ovechkin’s hand.
He left the ice, two goals closer to Wayne Gretzky’s once-thought-to-be unbreakable record.
Full Coverage of Alex Ovechkin tying and passing Gordie Howe
Share On