Alex Ovechkin is one of the greatest players in NHL history and Thursday against the Arizona Coyotes, he reached another impressive milestone.
With a first-period wrist shot on Adin Hill, Ovechkin tallied his 5,000th career shot.
Ovechkin is now the fastest player in NHL history to reach this mark (1,031 games), besting Hall of Famer Marcel Dionne by 184 games.
Alex Ovechkin has recorded his 5,000th career shot in his 1,031st career game. That sets the record for the fastest player in NHL to reach 5,000 shots, besting Marcel Dionne's previous record (1,215) by 184 games.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) December 7, 2018
Ovechkin Shot Number 5,000 was a harmless wrister from the perimeter near the left circle.
The shot occured 8:41 into the first period and was at even strength. Coyotes goaltender Adin Hill made the save.
Ovechkin now has the ninth most shots in NHL history. Eight of the nine players are already in the Hockey Hall of Fame. The only player who currently isn’t, Jaromir Jagr, will be when he is eligible.
The Capitals have some incredible stats to put Ovechkin’s 5,000 shots in perspective.
- Ovechkin is the only player that ranks on the NHL’s all-time shots list that has played fewer than 1,050 career games.
- With a 4.86 shots per game average, Ovechkin leads the NHL in shots since 1994-95, 10 seasons before Ovechkin made his NHL debut.
- Since Ovechkin’s debut, he has taken 1,557 more shots than Eric Staal, who ranks second in the NHL in shots taken since 2005-06, and Ovechkin has led the NHL in shots in 11 of his 13 full seasons in the NHL.
During his 14 years pro, Ovechkin has led the NHL in shots a staggering 11 times.
