Ageless wonder Alex Ovechkin scored in his fifth consecutive game on Wednesday, notching the game-winning tally in the Washington Capitals’ 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators.
Taking a pass from Dylan Strome, who was camped out behind the net, Ovechkin sent a one-timer from the slot past Predators’ goaltender Juuse Saros, hitting the top corner with 9:35 remaining in the third period. The tally marked Ovechkin’s 861st career goal, putting him only 33 behind the NHL’s all-time goals leader Wayne Gretzky (894).
“Right now, we have connection with Pro and (Strome), hopefully gonna continue to play like that,” Ovechkin said.
The goal was Ovechkin’s eighth of the season. After starting the year scoreless in his first three games, Ovechkin has scored eight goals in his last nine outings. He also has six goals during this five-game goal streak.
The Capitals’ captain, at age 39, is trending towards a 54-goal season and is on pace to tie Gretzky’s record on March 5 against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden — Game 62 of the regular season. He’s set to pass The Great One at home on March 7 against the Detroit Red Wings during Game 63.
H-O-T-T-O-VI-GOAL
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙛𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣 𝙊𝙫𝙞 𝙜𝙤𝙖𝙡 pic.twitter.com/euW0ClfRJ8
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 7, 2024
Notably, Ovechkin has also scored in every game — eight consecutive outings — when he’s worn the black Screaming Eagle jersey, going back to the 2022-23 season, when the sweater was known as the Reverse Retro 2.0 jersey.
“I don’t know the stats, but how I said, I love this jersey,” Ovechkin said. “Fans love it, so it’s pretty cool.”
Ovechkin has scored 12 goals and tallied four assists in eight games in the black Screagle and has accomplished some major history in it, too: he scored his 30th career hat trick, passed Gordie Howe for second on the NHL’s all-time goal list, and tied the record for the most 30-goal seasons (17) in NHL history.
Ovechkin’s game-winning goal was the 130th of his career. He now trails first-place Jaromir Jagr by five for the most in NHL history (135).
Saros, no. 140 on Ovi’s different goalie list, has surrendered four goals to The Great 8 in his career.
The Capitals captain also had the primary assist on Aliaksei Protas’s second-period goal, giving him a two-point night.
He’s now on a five-game point streak (6g, 5a), per NHL PR, marking his 60th career point streak of five games or more. In the process, he passed Sidney Crosby and Joe Thornton (59) for the ninth most in NHL history.
Alex Ovechkin keeps up the hot start to his 20th season with the @Capitals by recording another five-game point streak.
Tune in for the third period on @TVASports. #NHLStats: https://t.co/MUrxzUZGMv pic.twitter.com/B9s5wW5DMW
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 7, 2024
The Capitals have now won seven straight games at home. Ovechkin is tied with Connor McMichael for the team lead in goals (8).
“No, I’m always have fun,” Ovechkin said. “But how I said, when you winning games, when you producing opportunities to have a chance to score goals, it’s always fun to play.”
