Alex Ovechkin
During the Capitals last visit to Prudential Center, Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom played in their 900th NHL game together. Today the Great Eight has a chance to make more history by becoming the next member of the 700 goal club. Tonight is Ovechkin’s 1,144th game and if he gets it would be the second fewest games in NHL history to reach that mark.
Ovechkin would also make the jump from 600 to 700 in just 154 games, the fewest amount of games to make that jump for any member of the club. It would also mark the second-fewest games Ovechkin took to go from one hundred goal milestone to another. It took him 129 games to go from 100 to 200 goals.
Ovechkin has averaged 0.61 goals per game in his career which ranks fifth in NHL history including a league best 0.58 rating since his 30th birthday.
Ovechkin has cored 29 goals in 56 regular season games against the Devils including 10 on the road in 25 games. With rookie Samsonov starting on one end the Devils will likely go with rookie netminder MacKenzie Blackwood. Ovechkin has scored once against Blackwood in three games which occurred on Dec. 20, 2019.
Will this be the day Ovechkin finally reaches 700 goals? Puck drop is at 1 p.m. on NBC Sports Washington and the NHL Network.