Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin is seven goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's career goals mark of 895 as we're writing this. With less than a month to go in the season, all eyes are on the Caps and us so we hope to get this right.
Upcoming Caps games
It's a BIG one on Tuesday night in Winnipeg against the Jets as the Caps look to avenge an earlier season loss to the best team in the Western Conference in a tough building to play in. Following that is a Thursday contest at the Minnesota Wild.
The Caps close out the month of March on the 30th with a home afternoon contest with the Buffalo Sabres. On April 1 and 2 they're in a road back to back at the Boston Bruins then the Carolina Hurricanes.
April 4 is a home game with the Chicago Blackhawks. On April 6 they're back on the road against the New York Islanders. On April 10 they're back home against the Carolina Hurricanes which is prime season ending and record breaking territory.
On the 12th they head to Columbus then on the 13th the Blue Jackets come back to D.C. Could those be the games Ovi ties or breaks the record?
Or could it be the 15th at the Islanders or the regular season finale on the 17th at the Pittsburgh Penguins? That's a lot to choose from for one prediction.
Prediction: April 10 at home vs. Carolina Hurricanes
I've been see sawing back and fourth on this one. A lot of folks have Ovechkin breaking the recrord on April 12 in an afternoon matchup at the Blue Jackets but I got him breaking the record two nights earlier on Capital One Arena ice against a bitter divsional foe.
The Hurricanes aren't really a rival but they had the upper hand on the Caps in the 2019 postseason as well as the 2023 Stadium Series. Seeing Ovechkin break the milestone against the Canes would be poetic based on the recent history.
The April 10 game is on ESPN plus, Hulu and Disney plus. Puck drop is at 7:30 and tickets to that game per Ticketmaster start at $222 to get in. In Columbus they start at just $83 for the game that Saturday.
So that's my prediction April 10 against the Hurricanes. As long as he gets the record this season I'm sure we'll all be very happy and proud. No matter what night he does it, we can all rejoice and come together as one then turn our focus to the Stanley Cup Playoffs where the Caps are in a good spot knock on wood.