Alex Ovechkin: Number two in goal scoring (for now), number one in our hearts

On Friday night at Capital One Arena, Alex Ovechkin made history. He scored the game’s firs goal and the games final goal, to tie and pass Gordie Howe for second place all time in NHL history when it comes to goal scoring.

Now there’s only one man left to chase. Wayne Gretzky.

At 18:22 Ovechkin struck with a shot a little far from his normal office spot. It was a quick snipe off a pass from Dylan Strome with Conor Sheary providing the secondary assist.

He had other looks on the ice but it looked like he would end the game tied with Gordie Howe. But then, the goalie got pulled putting an extra attacker on.

Ovechkin missed an empty net chance but then with the puck in their zone, Ovechkin got another look and this time made it. His boy Evgeny Kuznetsov provided that helper.

Ovechkin spoke after the game with his sons Sergei and Ilya holding each game puck: 

“I’m proud not for myself, but I’m proud for the organization, for the fans who have been with us all those years, ups and downs, and, obviously, we’re still not done and we just move forward.”

Peter Laviolette spoke on the chase of Wayne Gretzky that will continue after the Christmas break:

“When you see what Alex does on a daily basis, anything is possible. The way he plays. The way he scores. The way he shoots the puck. His love for the game. It’s going to take a lot but they picked the right guy to try and knock it down.”

We have been extremely lucky watching Ovechkin play the game of hockey. He already established himself as the best athlete in D.C. sports history. Now he has a chance to become the best player in NHL history and the game did not pick a better face or personality than the Great Eight.