Tonight at 5 p.m. the Washington Capitals play host to the Florida Panthers on Monumental Sports Network. All eyes will be on Alex Ovechkin moving forward as the captain is now seven away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's all time goals record.
The Gr8 Chase continues
The Capitals are 2-0-0 against Florida having won both previous meetings by a combined score of 10-4. On Feb. 4, the Capitals broke a 2-2 tie after 40 minutes with four third period goals en route to a 6-3 win at Capital One Arena, the same setting where the game will be played today.
On Nov. 25 at Amerant Bank Arena, the Caps defeated the Panthers 4-1 behind a third point night from Jakob Chychrun and a 20 save performance from Logan Thompson. Tonight will be the third and final matchup between the teams this regular season.
Ovechkin scored his 888th goal in Thursday night's win over the Philadelphia Flyers. He's got 35 goals in 53 games this season which is good for 0.66 goals per games played and 13 goals in his last 19 games.
Ovechkin is on pace to score 43 goals this season. At 39 years old, Ovechkin ranks tied for fourth in the NHL in goals despite missing 16 games due to injury.
Since turning 35 on September 17, 2020, Ovechkin has scored 182 goals in 327 games which is good for 0.56 goals per game. That 0.56 goals per game rate among players age 35 or older is the highest in NHL history. Wayne Gretzky had a goals per game rate of 0.25 after turning 35.
In Ovechkin's career against the Panhers he's scored 45 goals including 90 points in 73 career games. He ranks first all time in career goals, assists, and points against Florida. Sergei Bobrovsky is expected to get the nod in net against Logan Thompson.
In Ovechkin's career against Bobrovsky he has 16 goals and seven assists for 23 points in 33 games up against him. Once again puck drop is at 5 p.m. on Monumental Sports Network.