#1 Alex Ovechkin
After a slow start to the season, Alex Ovechkin has started to heat up. He has scored three goals in his last three games. It began with a two goal performance on Nov. 11 at the New York Islanders. It was his 168th career multi goal game. Only Wayne Gretzky has more multi goal games in NHL history with 189.
Ovechkin’s second goal that night was an empty netter which tied him with Gretzky at 56 for the most empty net goals in NHL history. Including playoff goals, Ovechkin’s next goal will be the 900th of his career. He has 827 regular season goals and 72 playoff goals.
Ovechkin enters tonight’s game just three points shy of 1,500 career points. He can become the 16th player in NHL history and the second active player behind Sidney Crosby to reach the 1,500 point mark. Ovechkin leads the Capitals in 12 points with five goals and seven assists in 15 games this season.
Ovechkin needs 67 goals to tie Gretzky and 68 to pass him. As he’s signed with the Capitals for the next three seasons, he needs to average 25 goals each season to pass him as the NHL’s all time leading goal scorer. If he can reach 30 goals, he would pass former Capital Mike Gartner (17) for the most 30 goal seasons in NHL history.