The Washington Capitals lost to the New York Rangers last night but the silver lining from the game is that Alex Ovechkin scored and his goal is another milestone added to his list.
Last night Ovechkin passed Mike Gartner for seventh place on the NHL’s all time goals list as he continues to chase Wayne Gretzky’s big record. Ovechkin scored on the faceoff in the third period. It was a faceoff draw won by Nicklas Backstrom. Ovechkin shot it from the top of his office to bring the Caps within one.
Craig Laughlin said on the broadcast on NBC Sports Washington, “No one in the world is going to stop that.”
Up next on the goals watch is Phil Esposito who finished his career with 717 goals.
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“It’s great. I’m not done yet, but I’m trying to enjoy my time right now and these moments,” Ovechkin told the media after the game.
Ovechkin, although proud of his accomplishment, was disappointed in the end result. He added via Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic (subscription required):
"“It’s great to move on. Not done yet. Just try to enjoy my time right now and try to enjoy this moment. It sucks we didn’t get the points.”"
In addition to the goal putting Ovechkin in seventh place on the NHL’s all time goals list, he is also one road tally away (361) from tying Steve Yzerman for the second most away goals in NHL history according to StatsCentre.
Backstrom’s assist was his 263rd on an Ovechkin goal. According to the Caps, the Swedish center assisted on 37.1 percent of Ovechkin’s goals. Ovechkin got a lot of ice time on Thursday. The Caps have injuries and two players on COVID protocol. As a result, the Caps went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
Ovechkin double shifted throughout he game and finished with 27:17 of ice time. That is the 10th highest time on ice total in his career for a game that ended in regulation. Despite the added icetime, Ovechkin felt great.
Ovechkin said via Ian Oland of Russian Machine Never Breaks, “I feel great. I was fresh, feeling the puck.”
Head coach Peter Laviolette said that he looked strong throughout the game and that he wanted to get Ovechkin minutes to keep the team in the game and get him rolling after spending 10 days in quarantine.
“I thought he looked strong. He was skating well. He was physical. He was putting pucks at the net. When that happens, anything can happen with him,” said Laviolette.