History on the line tonight for Alex Ovechkin

Tonight the Washington Capitals take on the Toronto Maple Leafs at Capital One Arena in the second game of their three game homestand. For Alex Ovechkin, he could make history tonight in front of his home fans and fans across not only the United States and Canada but his home country in Russia.

Ovechkin scored his 18th, 19th, and 20th goals on Wednesday night against the Chicago Blackhawks and if we’re talking career numbers that’s 798, 799, and 800 to join Hall of Famers Gordie Howe (801) and Wayne Gretzky (894).

He’s also the only player in NHL history to score 800 goals with one franchise. He reached the mark in his 1,305th career game which was the second fewest games required to reach the milestone. Gretzky took 1,116 games. Howe scored his 800th career goal in his 1,748h career game a the age of 51.

Ovechkin took an entire baseball season to score from 700 goals to 800 goals, in other words 162 games. It was the fewest games required to make that leap for any member of the 800 goal club.

It is tied for the third fewest games Ovechkin has required to go from one 100 goal milestone to another. It equates to a 0.62 goals per game average which is slightly higher than his overall career average of 0.61. Gretzky’s goals per game rate from 700 to 800 was 0.44 while Howe’s was 0.39.

Ovechkin’s 0.61 goals per game rate in his career is the seventh highest rate in NHL history among players with at least 200 goals. Howe averaged 0.45 goals per game during his career while Gretzky averaged 0.60.

Since turning 35 years old on September 17, 2020, Ovechkin has maintained his career goals per game averaging, scoring 94 goals in 154 games played. That marks the highest rate among players following their 35th birthday in NHL history.

Tonight could be a special night at Capital One Arena. Tune in to NBC Sports Washington at 7 p.m. to potentially witness history as Ovechkin looks to move to second place all time in goals scored.