We here at Stars and Sticks love big moments when it comes to the Washington Capitals. But this is bigger than that. It's the biggest record in the league and perhaps the greatest story in sports. And who doesn't love a good story? So lets predict how the magic moment is going to happen.
Alex Ovechkin will score from his signature spot, the office
Our prediction is that Alex Ovechkin will score from the left face off circle on a one timer. The signature Ovechkin shot. I initially picked the rematch against the Carolina Hurricnaes that he could get number 895 but that goal could come much sooner than that.
In fact if he gets a hat trick on Friday night on home ice against the Chicago Blackhawks then boom there it is! It would be against the very same team he scored his 800th career goal against and that ironically came in the form of a hat trick as well.
Ovechkin has scored in three straight games and last night potted his 39th goal of the season. That's the most by a player at age 39 or older in more than 55 years. Gretzky has held the 894 career goals mark for more than 31 years.
Ovechkin scored a goal on consecutive days for the 60th time in his regular season career, becoming the fifth player in League history to achieve that feat. It was the fourth time he had scored on back to back days this season, two of the oher three instances book ended the injury that sidelined him for 16 games in mid November.
Ovechkin is now one goal shy of extending his record for career 40 goal seasons after he set the benchmark at 13 in 2022-23, breaking the record previously held by Wayne Gretzky. Ovi already holds or shares the records for 30 goal seasons (career and consecutive) and 50 goal seasons (career).
Ovechkin's strike for 895 will come on the left face off circle dot or the Ovi office if you prefer to call it that. It'll be set up by Dylan Strome and there might be a distinct possability Ryan Leonard could be on the ice too. That's what we see in our crystall ball.
The road ahead for the Caps looks like this. They play the Blackhawks Friday night at 7 p.m. on Monumental Sports Network and NHL Network. On Sunday April 6 they'll head to UBS Arena to face the Islanders at 12:30 p.m. on Monumental Sports Network, TNT, and MAX. We could see history as early as this weekend.