Washington Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin has set an NHL record for most 40 goal seasons in a career with this being his 13th season to achieve the milestone.
Ovechkin scored his 40th goal on Tuesday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Early in the first period, the Capitals were entering the zone on a rush, and Ovechkin, Dylan Strome, and Tom Wilson put together a passing play, completed with Wilson setting up Ovechkin from across the zone, and he sniped it like Ovi does to give the Capitals the 1-0 lead.
With that goal, it marks Ovechkin’s 13th season with 40 goals, passing Wayne Gretzky for the all-time mark.
He’s achieved this over the course of 18 seasons in the NHL, only failing to reach that total five times, with two being due to shortened seasons and one seeing him fall just two goals short.
On top of his 40 goals, Ovechkin also has 29 assists to give him 69 points in 65 games and a period. He’s shown that he can do it with anybody, as injuries have plagued the Capitals all year and given Ovechkin inconsistent linemates during the season.
With his 40th goal, Ovechkin also became the fifth player in NHL history to score 40 goals at age 37 or older.
He joins Gordie Howe (who did so in 1968-69 as a 40 year old), Johnny Bucyk (1972-73 as a 37 year old), Brendan Shanahan (2005-06 as a 37 year old), and Phil Esposito (1978-79 as a 37 year old) as the only players to achieve the feat.
Of course, this isn’t the record that Ovechkin is trying to best Gretzky at, as he is in hot pursuit of the all-time great to break his record for most career NHL goals. Ovechkin currently has 820, and needs just 74 more to reach Gretzky’s total of 894 goals.
With at least a few more years left in him and no signs of slowing down, it seems a matter of when, not if, that record is broken, and some are even starting to wonder if he could possibly reach 1,000 goals when his career is all said and done.
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