Ovechkin is on the verge of becoming the NHL’s all-time goals leader, and he can pass Wayne Gretzky’s mark of 894 before the end of season. The Capitals standout currently has 879 career goals, so he needs to rack up 16 more goals in the team’s remaining 28 games in order to top Gretzky’s record this season.
Capitals star Alex Ovechkin is 16 away from passing Wayne Gretzky for all-time NHL record
Ovechkin scored 42 goals during the 2022-23 season, and has tallied at least 41 goals in 13 of his 19 NHL seasons.
The 2023-24 campaign proved to be a mortal one for Ovechkin where scored 31 goals, his lowest total in a full-length season since he netted 32 in the 2012-13 season. Ovechkin did have just 24 goals in 2020-21, but that season was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ovechkin found the back of the net against the Philadelphia Flyers on Feb. 6 to bring himself within 16 goals of passing Gretzky’s all-time goals record.
Ovechkin will likely continue to be an established force on the Capitals’ top power-play unit, so there figures to be plenty of goal-scoring opportunities. He, obviously, has gotten off to a much hotter start than he did a year ago when he recorded just five goals over the first two months of the season.
At this season’s pace, given health, Ovechkin would surpass “The Great One” before the end of the regular season.
CBS Sports will keep track of Ovechkin’s goals throughout the season and keep tabs on how close he is to eclipsing Gretzky’s all-time record.
