Alex Ovechkin joined an exclusive club Saturday when he scored the 700th goal of his career in classic fashion, on a one-timer against the New Jersey Devils.
The Great 8 is now the eighth player to reach the milestone – which is surely not a coincidence. And at age 34, he’s still got plenty of time to catch Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record of 894, if he wants to.
But before we look ahead to Gretzky’s record, let’s look back on Ovechkin’s first 700 goals and break down how he got them.
2: The number of goals Ovechkin has scored on penalty shots, with his last one coming in January 2010. He also has 33 shootout goals, which don’t count towards his overall total.
4: The number of shorthanded goals Ovechkin has scored. His last one came on Jan. 3, 2009 against the New York Rangers. That’s no surprise though, considering Ovechkin has been on the ice shorthanded for only 191 minutes in his career. By comparison, he’s skated in over 5,400 minutes on the power play.
8: The number of times Ovechkin has led the league in goals, an all-time record. The Great 8 also has eight total seasons with at least 50 goals – so far – which is second to only Gretzky and Mike Bossy (9) for most all-time.
12.7: Ovechkin’s shooting percentage, which is the lowest among the players who have reached 700 goals. Ovechkin has always been known for his volume shooting and has taken 5,518 total shots in his career which trails only Jaromir Jagr and Ray Bourque for most all-time. The Capitals captain has also led the league in total shots in 11 of his 14 seasons and, now in his 15th, leads the category again.
23: The number of overtime goals Ovechkin has scored, the most all-time. In fact, no one else even has 20. In all, Ovechkin has 110 game-winning goals, which is tied for fourth all-time and proves he’s able to show up when his team needs him most.
24: The number of goals Ovechkin has scored against Marc-Andre Fleury and Henrik Lundqvist, the most against any goalie. Other goalies who’ve been burned plenty by Ovechkin include Kari Lehtonen (22), Carey Price (22), Ryan Miller (19) and Cam Ward (19).
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34 years, 158 days: Ovechkin’s current age, making him second-youngest behind only Gretzky (29 years, 342 days) among 700-goal scorers.
Ovechkin also seems to be getting better with age. He only needed 154 games to go from 600 to 700 goals, the second-fastest 100-goal period of his career. Hitting the milestone in 1,144 games is also the second-fewest needed behind Gretzky’s 886. His 225 goals since turning 30 rank 33rd all-time, a list he’ll keep climbing quickly over the next few years.
39: The number of empty-net goals Ovechkin has scored, the third-most all-time. His last one came earlier this month, goal No. 698, against the Los Angeles Kings.
65: The number of additional goals Ovechkin has scored in the playoffs. That’s just over half of Gretzky’s all-time record of 122, although No. 99 has appeared in 80 more games.
259: The number of goals Ovechkin has scored on the power play, which is third most all-time. He’s become so good at scoring power-play goals that he has a section of the ice unofficially named after him for the wicked one-timers he launches from just above the left circle.
260: The number of goals Ovechkin has scored that were assisted by Nicklas Backstrom. The two have been inseparable since Backstrom’s debut in 2007-08, leading the most successful stretch in franchise history. In their 13 seasons together, Ovechkin leads all skaters in goals with 602 and Backstrom leads all skaters in assists with 678.
But Ovechkin got the ultimate assist a couple seasons ago, passing the Stanley Cup to Backstrom first when the Capitals won in 2018.
Stats courtesy of Sportsnet Stats, Hockey Reference and NHL.com.
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