The Washington Capitals take on the Pittsburgh Penguins today at 3 p.m. on ABC and ESPN plus. Play finally resumes after the 4 Nations break and with no Caps players representing those four countries all the players got extra time to recharge and prepare for the homestretch of the season.
#3 Alex Ovechkin
Alex Ovechkin scored his 879th career goal on Feb. 6 in a win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Ovechkin is 16 goals shy of passing Wayne Gretzky for the most goals in NHL history. Ovi has suited up for 1,465 games so far while Gretzky finished his career playing in 1,487 games.
Ovechkin has scored 26 goals in 39 games this season which is a clip of 0.67 goals per games played. At 39 years old, Ovechkin ranks tied for ninth in the NHL in goals despite missing 16 games due to injury. Every player ranked ahead of OVechkin in goals is 31 or younger.
Ovechkin, who entered the season 42 goals shy of passing Gretzky, has scored at least 42 goals in 13 of his 19 NHL seasons. On Feb. 9 in a shootout loss to the Utah Hockey Club, Ovechkin had three assists to pass Phil Esposito for the 11th most points in NHL history.
In addition, Ovechkin's 1,593 career points are also the seventh most by a player with one franchise.
Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said this on Ovechkin following practice on Friday:
"I think this is going to be his best hockey of the year, these last 27 games. I think you're going to see a guy that is highly, highly motivated and just has the pedal to the metal for the last little stretch. "Spencer Carbery
It is now no secret, all eyes will be on the Great Eight as the Great Chase resumes.