Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin now needs five goals to overtake Wayne Gretzky's record for the most NHL goals of all-time. Let's look at goal number 890 for the Great Eight.
How it happened and what was said
The Caps would fall in this one 8-5 to the Buffalo Sabres. Ovi's goal pulled the Capitals to within 6-4 at 9:11 of the third period getting to the top of the crease and deflecting in a shot from the left point from defenseman Rasmus Sandin. It brought Ovechkin's goal total to 37 goals in 57 games this season.
Aliaskei Protas said, "He's chasing something special. He helped us get close in that game, but again, a couple of mistakes cost us."
"We lost three in a row, and right now it's a good thing it's happening right now and not in the playoffs. But we just have to bounce back and we just have to find our way to win the games," said Ovechkin.
The Caps losing three in a row is a rarity and they'll look to bounce back Tuesday night against the Boston Bruins. They weren't the only ones who lost as Ryan Leonard and Boston College lost in the NCAA Tournament to Denver. We are officially on Leonard watch as the kid could eventually sign a contract to join the big club.
Ovechkin didn't play much in the second period and spent much of the third playing with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Anthony Beauvillier. PLD would get a goal in the third period which initially looked liked Ovechkin's second goal of the game. Oh well.
With 37 goals in 57 games this season, Ovechkin is currently on pace for 42 goals. Should Ovechkin hit that number, he will reah 895. Ovechkin also had two assists in the contest and it was his eighth three point game of the season and 140th of his career.
Ovechkin owns a goals per game rate of 0.65 this season which puts him on pace to pass Wayne Gretzky and complete The Gr8 Chase against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on April 15. His career average of 0.60 has him on track to break the record in the regular season finale against the Pittsburgh Penguins on April 17.