WASHINGTON, DC — With close to two decades in the NHL under his belt, Alex Ovechkin shows no sign of slowing down. He scored no. 861 against the Nashville Predators Wednesday and now sits just 33 goals behind Wayne Gretzky for the all-time record.
Ovechkin became just the third player 39 or older to earn a five-game goal streak when he scored against the Predators: he’s now on pace to surpass Gretzky well before the end of the season. As Ovechkin hurdles closer and closer to 895, his teammates are well aware that they’re witnessing history.
“He’s chasing something special,” Aliaksei Protas said postgame. “You just want to enjoy it. The fact he’s doing it at 39-years-old is unbelievable. We were so happy for him and we just wish him nothing but just [to] keep going.”
Ovechkin’s hot start stands in stark contrast to the first few months of the 2023-24 season, where both he and the Capitals struggled to get the puck over the line. After scoring eight goals in his first 35 games last season, Ovechkin needed just 12 games to hit the eight-goal mark this fall.
“He just finds ways to score,” said Dylan Strome, later adding, “Goal scorers find a way to get open and it’s our job — myself and Pro and whoever’s around the ice with him — to get him the puck.”
Between his recent offensive explosion and the Capitals’ 9-3-0 record to start the year, Ovechkin is drinking in the moment.
“I’m always have fun, but how I said, when you winning games, when you’re producing opportunities to have a chance to score goals, it’s always fun to play,” Ovechkin said. “Right now we have connection with Pro and (Strome), hopefully going to continue to play like that.”
That enthusiasm has proved infectious, infusing extra meaning into every goal Ovechkin scores. While Ovechkin often deflects attention away from his pursuit of Gretzky, his teammates have no such apprehensions as they cheer their captain on.
“Our bench just goes bananas every time,” head coach Spencer Carbery said with a chuckle. “Even when he gets a scoring chance…He, in general, when he’s not scoring, provides a ton of life, but when he’s going and the puck’s around him and he’s skating, and he’s on one of these runs where they’re going in for him, it is noticeable as a coach on the bench.”
Carbery later added, “When he touches the puck, everybody sort of holds their breath a little bit. Probably no different than building, to be honest with you, are the guys on the bench.”
Not even Ovechkin’s opponents are exempt from marveling at his accomplishments. Predators forward Steven Stamkos, who’s played more than 50 games against Ovechkin in his career, had plenty of praise for the player who’d cost his team the win Tuesday night.
“No, I mean, listen. He’s going to go down as the guy with the most goals ever at some point here,” Stamkos said after the loss. “I’ve been fortunate to play my entire career against them and played a lot of hockey against them being in the same division for a while.
“He’s just a generational goal scorer and a guy that I’ve always looked up to in terms of how he scores goals. It’s the hardest thing to do in the NHL is score and he’s found a way to do it better than, soon, anyone ever. So, pretty impressive.”
At this rate, Ovechkin could surpass Gretzky in a matter of months, completing a feat the NHL is unlikely to see again anytime soon. With history bearing down, the Capitals welcome the moment with open arms.
“Everyone’s enjoying the ride,” said Strome. “I think you can see on the bench how excited guys get when he scores. I think the whole arena gets a little bit extra jolt when he scores. I definitely think it’s fun to be along for the ride.
“We don’t really talk about it in here. Obviously, we know what he’s going after, but he just does his job. His job is to score goals and he does a great job of that.”
