This may not be the goal record Washington Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin has in mind at the moment, but he now has the most road goals in NHL history.
Ovechkin broke the record midway through the first period of Tuesday night’s game against the Vancouver Canucks. He got the goal in typical Ovechkin fashion, scoring on a one-timer set up by Dylan Strome as the Caps were moving up the ice. He also tied the record just six minutes earlier with an unassisted goal, both goals giving the Capitals an early 2-0 lead in the game.
With both goals, Ovechkin has now surpassed Wayne Gretzky for most goals on the road all-time. These were Ovechkin’s 402nd and 403rd goals on the road, and he will still have plenty of time to add to this record.
Of course, this isn’t the goal record that Ovechkin is aiming for. These two goals give Ovechkin 793 all-time, which is 101 behind Gretzky for the most in NHL history. He also sits eight back of Gordie Howe for second all-time, something he will most likely pass by the end of this season.
Ovechkin is currently in the second year of a five-year deal with a $9.5 million cap hit, so he still has plenty of runway to attempt to beat the record. Barring any health concerns, which Ovechkin has managed to avoid for a vast majority of his NHL career, he has 270 games left on his contract to score the remaining 101 goals, so he’ll need to score at a 31-goal pace to reach it. And that’s assuming that he doesn’t re-sign after if he’s close to try to finish the job.
That still seems likely for Ovechkin, considering he still hasn’t slowed down despite being 37 years old. He has 11 goals in 23 games this season, which puts him on pace for 39 on the year, and is even coming off a 50-goal season in 2021-22.
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