A great man once called Alex Ovechkin simply sensational. Monday, against the Utah Hockey Club, Ovi proved that mantra correct again.
After scoring a hat trick the night before against the Vegas Golden Knights, Ovi scored twice in his first game at Delta Center, marking the 39th different venue he’s scored at.
The two goals beat Connor Ingram, the 178th different goaltender Ovechkin has scored against (see the full list here), tying Jaromir Jagr for the most all time.
The goals were Ovechkin’s 867th and 868th of his career, bringing him to within 26 of Wayne Gretzky for a share of the NHL’s all-time goals record.
Career goal no. 867
Ovechkin’s first tally came 11:05 into the first period, three seconds after a Capitals’ power play ended. Taking a pass from Pierre-Luc Dubois, Ovechkin ripped a ridiculously hard wrist shot past Ingram to put the Capitals up 3-1.
Career goal no. 868
Ovechkin followed that up with another heater 5:38 into the second period. Off a clean faceoff win by Dylan Strome, John Carlson sent a pass to Ovechkin at the top of the left circle for his second goal of the night. According to Monumental Sports Network, Ovechkin clapped his one-timer 94 mph toward the net.
The PPG was Ovechkin’s 316th of his career — the most of all time.
The goals in the first and second periods gave Ovechkin tallies in five consecutive stanzas, stretching back to Sunday’s Golden Knights game.
Ovechkin, 39, now solely leads the league in goals by two, breaking a tie with Sam Reinhart and Leon Draisaitl.
Per Capitals PR, the multi-goal game was Ovechkin’s 177th of his career. He now trails Wayne Gretzky (189) by 12 for the most in league history. Ovechkin is also the first player to have 100 career multi-goal road games.
Ovechkin is currently on pace for 63 goals with 15 goals in 18 games this season.
While the back-to-back was Ovechkin’s biggest goalruption of the season — five goals in two games — the vibes were not good by the time the final horn sounded. Ovechkin left the game with an injury late in the third period after colliding legs with Utah’s Jack McBain.
Bruce Boudreau on Ovi's injury during the postgame show: "Hopefully Russian machine doesn't break."
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) November 19, 2024
