Last season, he rounded the number of goals scored to 780, entering the new season as the third most productive player in NHL history. However, in the first three matches of the new year, Ovechkin was silent about goals, and in Russia they were already beginning to worry about their treasure.
He silenced the doubters in match four, when he also hit twice. He arrived again on Tuesday night against the Devils. The jab was typical for him, he hit him first from the left circle for a lineout in the power play. In the second period he increased the score to 4: 1 for Washington. The goal was pretty much nothing special, but after the game ended it turned out to be special.
The New Jersey players managed to reduce in the last third and the match ended 3: 6. Ovechkin’s goal proved to be a winner. It was his 122nd career winning goal, surpassing the legendary Gordie Howe on the all-time top scorer list. He is currently 13 goals behind table leader Jaromír Jágr.
“Being in the company of such extraordinary players and legends is something special for me,” said the Russian scorer after the match. Additionally, it was Ovechkin’s 397th away goal, and in that statistic he is only five goals behind another NHL legend, Wayne Gretzky.
Capitals manager Peter Laviolette also praised Ovechkin after the match. “It seems to me that Alex breaks some records and milestones every night, it’s something incredible”, he marveled. He also added that he continues to be extremely effective in attack and scores important goals, so it makes sense to beat historical milestones and the team wishes him the best.
