Capitals: Breaking down all the milestones of 2020

It was another year full of milestones for the Washington Capitals.

While the biggest Washington Capitals highlight of the 2019-20 NHL season was Alex Ovechkin‘s pursuit and entry into the NHL’s 700-goal club was the biggest highlight, there was other things to watch and celebrate as we put a bow on the regular season which was 85% completed before the league paused and canceled the rest of it.

Soon we’ll hopefully have a 24-team playoff tournament which promises to draw some big ratings as the world is hungry for the return of sports.

Each of the top five goal scorers in the NHL, Ovechkin included, hail from different countries which is just the seventh time in NHL history that has happened. We all know Ovechkin is from Russia, David Pastrnak (Czech Republic) of the Boston Bruins is tied with him for 48 goals and they each will share the Rocket Richard Trophy.

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Auston Matthews was right behind them with 47, hailing from the USA, Leon Draisaitl from Germany (43) and Mika Zibinaejad (41) from Sweden.

Ovechkin topped the league in goals for the third straight season and a record ninth time overall which is two more than Bobby Hull, who did it seven times. Ovechkin also notched four hat tricks for the first time in his career and became the fourth player in NHL history to score 48 or more goals in a season at age 34 or older.

But Ovechkin wasn’t the only Caps player who achieved milestones this season. John Carlson led defensemen with 60 assists and 75 points. He was on pace for an 89-point campaign, mark last reached by a defenseman 26 years ago.

Some interesting stats to consider: there were 457 total games won by a team who trailed by at least one goal, tied for the second-most comeback wins through 1,082 games in NHL history. The Caps and St. Louis Blues, the last two Stanley Cup champions shared the league lead with 21 comeback wins.

Back to Ovechkin. It had been 58 years since the last season in which players age 23 or younger and age 34 or older finished among the top two in goals. Pastrnak, 23, and Ovechkin, 34, became the first to do so since Bobby Hull (23) and Gordie Howe (34) in the 1961-62 season.

In Ovechkin’s chase to 700 goals, Ovechkin passed five Hall of Famers en route to his 11th season scoring 40 plus goals and NHL record ninth season as the leader in goals. Those players were Luc Robitaille, Teemu Selanne, Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman, and Mark Messier.