Alex Ovechkin has his eyes on the prize and not just the record

As Alex Ovechkin was taken aback by the surpise of the return of the Screaming Eagle in time for the Washington Capitals 50th anniversary season, he also has bigger goals in mind than just a jersey. In fact, it's even bigger than The Record as he enters his 20th season.

Eyes will be on him throughout the season from fans and media alike but the Caps want to make the playoffs in a competitive Metropolitan Divsion. And they want to clinch earlier. And it's up to Ovechkin and company to do just that as he said per Tom Gulitti of NHL.com.

I'm always saying I just have to do my job. Of course, without goals, you're not going to win the games. But right now, the most important thing for us to find the right line combinations because it's the new guys. It's basically half the team that's new. It's new line mates, new teammates, so you have to use that time for not thinking about goals or something else.

Ovechkin would then add, "You just have to think about, 'OK, what's going to work for us to get success?". Ovechkin turned 39 on Tuesday and has been an integral part of the Caps success especially his second half turnaround last season.

Ovechkin currently has 853 goals heading into Caps opening night in 1,426 regular season games and he helped the Caps qualify for the playoffs in 15 of his last 19 seasons. The team would win the Stanley Cup in 2018 when many people said they couldn't. Ovechkin would say what we all know, "Unfortunately, I can't stop the time."

Ovechkin scored 42 goals in 2022-23 to move to second all time and pass Gordie Howe. He had 31 last season putting him just 42 away from passing the number. The Caps weren't going to beat the New York Rangers in the playoffs but the team made lots of progress over the summer in their roster turnaround to remain competitive.

During Thursday's training camp Ovechkin practiced on a line with Dylan Strome, his center for much of the past two seasons as well as Andrew Mangiapane who is a newcomer to the team.

Pierre-Luc Dubois, who was the big acquisition over the summer, centered a line between Connor McMichael and Tom Wilson.

Today is Day 2 of training camp. Group A just finished up. Group B practices at 11:45 a.m. on the Arlington Rink before switching over to the Capitals Rink at 12:20 p.m. Group C practices at 1:45 p.m. on the Arlington Rink before moving to the Capitals Rink at 2:20 p.m.

On Sunday September 22nd it's the first Caps preseason game against the Philadelphia Flyers at 3 p.m. on Monumental Sports Network.