Washington capital captain Alex Ovechkin scored his 800th career goal on Tuesday night, becoming only the third player in NHL history — after Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe — to reach this milestone.
He also became the first person to do it with a single brand, and it was part of a hat trick performance in one. 7-3 . win via black Hawk in Chicago.
“This… it’s huge. It’s big for hockey, it’s huge for the organization,” Ovechkin wearily told his teammates in the locker room after the win. “And to do it with you guys, it’s special.”
The 37-year-old left winger made his historic mark in the third phase of the 1,305th game of his career. It was also Ovechkin’s 20th goal of the season, giving him an 18th consecutive season of scoring at least 20 goals. Only Brendan Shanahan (19 in a row) and Howe (22) have achieved the same feat.
Tuesday also marked Ovechkin’s 162nd most-goal game, 189 games behind Gretzky. He chose the first two nights in opening time.
“It was a special night. To get two goals straight away, I could feel the game,” Ovechkin said on ESPN’s “SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt” after the game. “I’m really proud it’s over. Now we can move on and focus on the sequel.”
The Blackhawks faithful took Ovechkin down with a sea of hats after his hat trick, and after the game was over, he was congratulated by the Chicago stars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews in the center of the ice, a stark testament to how significant his achievements in hockey are.
Washington coach Peter Laviolette said: “The fans here did a great job of taking a second and just paying tribute to something. “Because they’re hockey fans and what happened was a hockey moment. It wasn’t about winning or losing or the Chicago v Washington game. Someone did something great and the Hockey fans in Chicago took notice.”
In the first period, Ovechkin scored the opening goal of the 136th game of his career, breaking the tie with Jaromir Jagr in that category.
Howe became the first player to score 800 goals on February 29, 1980. He would stand alone there for 14 years until Gretzky reached his 800th goal on March 20, 1994. Ovechkin’s next goal – number 801 – would tie him to Howe with the second most in NHL history. Gretzky holds the record with 894 goals.
“I’m just trying to think about the next game, the next shift, not what’s going to happen out there,” Ovechkin said. “I’ll try to help the team win, and it doesn’t matter how.”
During his run to the 800 mark, Ovechkin went through a period of 4 goals in 3 games to reach 53 goals against an empty net in his career. Only Gretzky has ever buried more (56).
Now in his 18th NHL season, Ovechkin is in the habit of setting records. He has nine seasons scoring 50 goals – equaling Gretzky and Mike Bossy – and becomes the oldest player (at 36) when he hits 50 goals in the 2021-22 season.
His nine Maurice “Rocket” Richard trophies are the highest honors any skater has earned, and Ovechkin is the only player to have won the Stanley Cup (in 2018), the Conn Smythe Cup (as a player) as playoff MVP), Calder Trophy (for rookie of the year), Art Ross Trophy (for leading the league in points), Hart Trophy (as league MVP), Ted Lindsay Award ( for the NHLPA’s best player) and a Rocket throughout their careers.
Ovechkin was first drafted masters by Washington in 2004 and demonstrated an instant scoring ability when he scored twice on his NHL debut on October 5, 2005. His best offensive campaign yet so far is 2007-08, when he became the 23rd player to score 65 goals in a season ending with 112 points.
Capitals, slowly recovering from a slow start, have now racked up five straight wins. They will organize the Dallas Star on Thursday.
“As soon as it’s over, we celebrate, we’re happy,” Ovechkin said, “and we move on.”
