With two consecutive hat tricks last week, Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals jumped into the NHL goal scoring lead with 29 goals in 32 games and also set a new career-best point streak of 14 straight contests. The Russian sniper has 17 goals and six assists during his hot stretch and is three games away from tying the franchise record of 17 straight outings with a point set by fellow winger Mike Gartner. With just one more tally this season Ovechkin will hit the 30-goal plateau for the 14th straight season since breaking into the league.
Most fans believe he’ll eventually slow down, but if he doesn’t he’s on pace to score 75 times in 2018/19. This is even more remarkable considering he’s 33 years old, which is more than a decade older than the current crop of young stars such as Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Patrik Laine. Ovechkin’s previous best in goals was 65. He’s scored fewer than 40 in just three of his 13 full seasons which includes 32 goals in the 48-game campaign of 2012/13. He’s hit the 50-goal mark seven times and is also tied with Bobby Hull for leading the league in goals on seven occasions.
The two hat tricks last week give him 23 for his career which ranks 10th on the all time list. He’s also number nine in history for multi-goal games with 127. Wayne Gretzky leads the way in both categories with 50 career hat tricks and 189 multi-goal outings. Gretzky is also the all-time leader in goals scored with 894, followed by Gordie Howe at 801 and Jaromir Jagr with 766. As of December 17th Ovechkin had notched 636 regular-season goals to rank 15th and could realistically finish his career in third place all time. One record he should break in the next couple of years is Dave Andreychuk’s mark for 274 power-play goals as Ovechkin is just 37 behind with 237.
In addition, if The Great Eight manages to reach 50 goals again this season he’ll become the third-oldest NHL’er to achieve the feat behind Jaromir Jagr and Johnny Bucyk. But even though Ovechkin is lethal on the power-play with his patented one-timer from the left faceoff circle, he’s scored 21 of his 29 goals this season at even strength while his shooting percentage stands at 22.5. Scoring goals just comes naturally to the Capitals’ captain though as he banged in 52 as a rookie back in 2005/06 and took home the Calder Trophy and was named to the All-Rookie Team.
Ovechkin is simply one of the greatest players to ever skate on a hockey rink. He’s an 11-time All-Star and has been recognized for his greatness with 16 individual NHL awards. This included three Hart Trophies along with his seven Rocket Richard Awards. He enjoyed his finest season in 2007/08 when he took home the Art Ross, Hart, Lady Byng and Richard Trophies after scoring 65 goals and 47 helpers for 112 points. And let’s not forget he was last season’s Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the MVP of the playoffs for leading the Capitals to their first ever Stanley Cup.
Goaltenders simply have a difficult time stopping Ovechkin’s shot even though they know exactly when and where it’s coming from. This is probably because his shot has been clocked at more than 101 miles per hour in the past and it hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. He’s a very accurate shooter and if there are bodies in front of the net when he lets it go it’s almost for a goaltender to react quickly enough to stop it. Ovechkin isn’t slowing down either when it comes to his overall play. He’s still just as physical as he always was and his enthusiasm for the game hasn’t waned.
Even though he plays a reckless style, Ovechkin has been lucky enough to remain relatively healthy during his career due to his pure strength. It’s hard to predict how much longer he can keep it up, but don’t be surprised if he’s still filling the net five years from now and challenging Gretzky for the number one spot on the all-time goals list.