MOSCOW, March 21. /TASS/. Russian superstar forward and Washington Capitals’ captain Alexander Ovechkin scored another goal on Thursday night in a home win against the Philadelphia Flyers, putting him just six goals shy of Wayne Gretzky's all-time record.
Ovechkin now has 35 goals in 53 games this season. Despite missing 16 games earlier in the season with a broken leg, Ovechkin is still in the top-10 in the NHL in goals this year, and is now second in NHL history with 888 goals, trailing only the Great One himself Wayne Gretzky of Canada, who had 894 goals in his NHL career.
Speaking after the game, Ovechkin, who wears the No. 8 for the Caps, took note of the fans in the stands: "So, there was lots of 8s out there."
"Our goal was to make the playoffs this year," the Washington Capitals captain said humbly after the Captials clinched a playoff spot with their 3-2 win over the Flyers, his 888th goal being the difference-maker.
"It's hard. Every game, it's hard, especially at the end because every team is fighting," Ovechkin said. "That's why in the beginning of the year and the middle of the year it's very important to [be] collecting the points and feel comfortable at the end."
The Capitals are the first team in the NHL to clinch a playoff spot this year, and are tied for the league lead with 100 points.
Speaking about Ovechkin’s trail-blazing pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record, Washington Capitals Head Coach Spencer Carbery said: "Our guys feed off it on the bench. They’re pulling for him."
"I think it energizes them to play at a higher level, to be honest with you, raise their game and when they’re playing with him to try to have productive shifts," the NHL club’s official statement quoted Carbery as saying.
"Now, we’ve talked about it as a group. You just have to be careful of forcing pucks to him and overpassing in situations," Carbery continued. "You just play your game and if you play within our structure, good things will happen for him. So, worry about playing inside of our system and he’ll get his looks."
Canadian-American ice hockey star Wayne Gretzky's career spanned twenty seasons over four different NHL clubs. From 1979 and 1999, Gretzky, considered by many to be the greatest hockey player of all-time, broke numerous NHL records, including the one for goals scored.
Ovechkin, 39, is signed with the Washington Capitals through 2026. The team has 13 games left in the regular season.
Ovechkin broke into the NHL with the Washington Capitals, who selected him with the 42nd pick in the 2004 draft. The Russian superstar led the Caps to a Stanley Cup title in 2018, the only one of his career, and the only one in the club's history.
In 2008, 2012 and 2014, "Ovie," as he is called by his fans, won gold medals at the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championships to go along with his two silver and four bronze medals at the world championships.
During a rally of the newly-elected US president’s supporters at the Capital One Arena in Washington on January 20, US President Donald Trump called Russian hockey player Alexander Ovechkin "a great player."