Washington Capitals: Top 3 key players to watch against Rangers

#2 Alex Ovechkin

Alex Ovechkin has 35 career goals against the New York Rangers in 59 games played. He loves The Garden. Ovechkin sits one goal shy of passing Mike Gartner for the seventh most goals in NHL history. He tied Gartner with his NHL record 24th career overtime goal against the Boston Bruins on Saturday January 30.

Ovechkin reached the mark in 275 fewer games than Gartner, reaching it in 1,157 games compared to Gartner’s 1,432.  The overtime goal also pushed Ovechkin past Teemu Selanne and Brett Hull (110) for sole possession of fourth place on the NHL’s all time game winning goals list.

Ovechkin’s has a career goals per game average of 0.61 which is the highest among players with at least 700 career goals. Ovechkin has reached the 30 goal mark in each of his 15 NHL seasons including 32 in the 2013 lockout shortened season of 48 games. His 15 career 30 goal campaigns trail only Gartner (17) for the most in league history. Ovechkin’s 15 consecutive 30 goal seasons are tied with Gartner and Jaromir Jagr for the longest such run by an NHL player.

Ovechkin was held off the scoresheet on Monday night and after losing their first regulation game he will be hungry for a goal at MSG, a place where he loves to score on the big stage.