Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin is on the verge of more NHL history.
When the big Russian hits the ice for the first time against the Florida Panthers on Saturday night, he’ll become just the 41st player in league history to play in 1,400 career games.
Per Capitals PR, Ovechkin has played in 1,399 of the Capitals’ 1,458 games (96 percent) since making his debut back in 2005. Among players who have played with only one franchise at the time of their 1,400th game, Ovechkin’s percentage of team games played is the fifth highest.
| Player | Team | Games Played | Team Games Played | Percentage of Games Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patrick Marleau | SJS | 1400 | 1431 | 0.978 |
| Nicklas Lidstrom | DET | 1400 | 1432 | 0.978 |
| Alex Delvecchio | DET | 1400 | 1438 | 0.974 |
| Gordie Howe | DET | 1400 | 1442 | 0.971 |
| Alex Ovechkin | WSH | 1399 | 1458 | 0.960 |
| Mike Modano | DAL | 1400 | 1522 | 0.920 |
| Shane Doan | ARI | 1400 | 1530 | 0.915 |
| Ray Bourque | BOS | 1400 | 1530 | 0.915 |
Capitals senior editor Mike Vogel asked The Great Eight about his big night before the showdown in sunny Sunrise, Florida.
“It’s a huge number, obviously,” Ovechkin said. “Happy to be in only one organization. Pretty big number and it’s nice to be one of them.”
Ovechkin is currently sitting at 1,527 career points (838g, 689a), the seventh-most points all-time among players at the time of their 1,400th career game. Only Paul Coffey, Ron Francis, Mark Messier, Steve Yzerman, Jaromir Jagr, and Wayne Gretzky rank above him in that category.
The Dallas Stars’ Ryan Suter is the only other active player to have played in 1,400 games. He hit the mark earlier this season and is at 1,420 and counting.
Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery was recently asked to reflect on his captain’s big achievement. At first, he was unaware that Ovechkin was even coming up on the milestone.
“I didn’t know that,” Carbery said. “1400 against Florida? Phew. A thousand is like the benchmark, right? 1400, so almost half more. That’s a lot of games and just speaks to him. I know everybody here knows the consistency, reliability too is a huge part of that, right? He’s such a reliable guy of being able to stay healthy and stay on the ice, and to be able to do it year after year after year is, that’s an impressive number.”
Ovechkin will come into Saturday night’s matchup riding a 10-game point streak after grabbing an assist on Connor McMichael’s empty-net tally against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. The streak is the third-longest for a player age 38 or older in modern NHL history.
At practice on Friday, Carbery had Ovechkin lined up with McMichael and Nicolas Aube-Kubel on the team’s first line. Ovechkin has historically tormented the Panthers, recording 89 points (44g, 45a) in 71 career games against the franchise.
On the road, Ovechkin only has more career points against the Carolina Hurricanes (52) than he does when he visits the Panthers (50). Puck drop at Amerant Bank Arena is at 6 pm.
