Alex Ovechkin plays 1,500th NHL game vs. Ottawa Senators

Alexander Ovechkin continues to make history as he reaches the tail end of his NHL career with the Washington Capitals, playing his 1,500th regular season game on Saturday night against the Ottawa Senators. 

While the occasion of his landmark game comes with historic proportions, he could also become just the first player in history to score 900 regular season goals, after surpassing Wayne Gretzky’s previous high-water mark of 894 against the New York Islanders in the spring. 

Entering Saturday’s game, Ovechkin already had two goals and seven points, while averaging 17:39 of ice time per game. In total, it brought his career offensive output up to 899 goals, 731 assists and 1,630 points, through 1,499 regular season games. 

Previously, only 23 other NHL players have hit the 1,500 game mark, with Patrick Marleau topping the charts at 1,779 career games, spread across his time with the San Jose Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins. 

Should Ovechkin play all 82 games for the Capitals this season, he could rise to 14th all time, currently held by Niklas Lidstrom’s 1,564 regular season games. 

At the same time, he ranks eighth among players to have played the most games for a single team, a category led by Gordie Howe’s 1,687 games played for the Detroit Red Wings, before his second chapter with the Hartford Whalers.  

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool. Pretty special moment, obviously, for me and for my family. Lucky enough to be able to play so many games and for one team, it’s pretty cool,” Ovechkin told NHL.com. “Obviously, when you come into the League you want to play as [many] games as you can, but 1,500, it’s a pretty big number.”

If Ovechkin isn’t able to find his 900th goal against the Senators, he will have to look to the next game against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, or potentially another history-making performance against the Islanders, albeit this time on home ice on Oct. 31.