Evgeny Kuznetsov is still out indefinitely for SKA St. Petersburg after suffering a second concussion this season. However, the 32-year-old centerman hasn’t lost his sense of humor despite his first year back in the KHL taking a turn for the worse.
Sunday, while out of his team’s lineup, Kuznetsov was asked again when he believes former Capitals teammate Alex Ovechkin will break Wayne Gretzky’s goals record. Ovechkin is currently just eight goals shy of passing Gretzky for sole possession of the record after scoring career goal no. 887 against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
“I think this season,” Kuznetsov told Match TV’s Andrey Irkha, as translated via Google Translate. “In the next game, Ovechkin will score eight goals.”
Now that’s a bold prediction.
While the chances of Ovechkin scoring his first career ‘Ovechtrick’ minus-one against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday is near zero, Kuznetsov is just showing confidence in his close friend and in classic Kuzy form.
Kuznetsov’s joke follows comments in late August saying he wanted Ovechkin to achieve the feat as soon as possible, due to the pressure, expectations, and media hype that comes with it.
“I hope [he breaks the record this season],” Kuznetsov said then. “So that he won’t suffer anymore next year.”
While Ovechkin’s date with Detroit will not likely result in a double hat trick plus two, the Capitals captain has had good success against the Red Wings in the past and could find paydirt for a second-straight game.
In 37 all-time games against the club, Ovechkin has scored 25 goals. His 0.68 goal-per-game rate against the Red Wings is slightly higher than both his career average (0.60) and his average this season (0.67). Ovechkin has one goal in two games against Detroit this season, so scoring a second goal in three games (0.67) would align with his average against them.
Ovechkin is currently on pace to tie Gretzky against the New York Islanders on April 6 and then pass him against the Columbus Blue Jackets on April 12. While not one game away, as Kuznetsov suggests, this season still seems very possible.
