Washington Capitals: Breaking down the greatest moment of 2020 so far
The greatest moment of 2020 was easily 700vi Washington Capitals fans.
It seemed like it was forever ago when Alex Ovechkin provided the Washington Capitals with their greatest moment of 2020 thus far. The road to get there was possibly even more exciting with a trio of hat tricks leading up to the big goal.
Finally on Feb. 22 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey would be the afternoon Ovechkin reached that historic goal. Although the game resulted in a loss, it would still be a historic game and one the organization is happy that happened so they could all move on.
The big goal happened in the third period when Ovechkin fired a one-timer off a pass from Evgeny Kuznetsov at the right face-off circle to tie the game and set off a wild celebration.
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Ovechkin became the eighth NHL player to score 700 goals which took him the second fewest games (1,144). His 700th goal was his 42nd of the season putting him on a scoring pace to have possibly scored 60 goals had the season not been paused. After all, nothing’s impossible for the great eight.
During Ovechkin’s pursuit of 700 goals he had three games where he scored eight times including hat tricks in two straight games which was part of a stretch where he had 14 goals in seven games.
This season Ovechkin climbed from 14th to eight on the NHL’s all time career goal list. In just January he passed four Hall of Famers that included Teemu Selanne, Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman, and Mark Messier.
The next active player behind Ovechkin in career goals is Patrick Marleau of the Pittsburgh Penguins who has 562 career goals but it 40 years old.
Ovechkin’s road to 700 was not only watched and followed by Ovechkin’s teammates and Caps fans but also across the entire hockey world.
“It means a lot. Not a lot of players did it in the history of the game, and it’s nice to be a part of it. It’s nice to be in that company,” Ovechkin told NBC Sports Washington.
“We’re proud of him. Like I always say, I see him every day, and you don’t really realize who you play with. The guy (has) the chance to be No. 1 in the whole history,” Kuznetsov told Samantha Pell of The Washington Post (subscription required).
“I was just screaming. I just had that feeling when it went to him. … It’s been a lot of fun for us. It’s been a lot of fun for anyone involved in hockey to watch what he’s been doing. So I don’t think many people are going to forget the achievements he’s getting,” added Tom Wilson.
More. Remembering Banner Night. light
Here’s hoping that Ovechkin’s 700th goal isn’t the last good memory of 2020 and that there are even better memories ahead as the team gears up for the season to be resumed.