WASHINGTON, January 11. /TASS/. Alexander Ovechkin, a Russian forward playing for NHL’s Washington Capitals, cleared on Sunday night the milestone of 500 scored goals during his career of 801 matches in the North American ice hockey league since 2005.

In a home match of Washington Capitals on Sunday night against Ottawa Senators, 30-year-old Ovechkin became the first Russian ever in the NHL to pass the threshold of 500 goals, having scored his 500th and 501st goals in the 37th and 50th minutes of the match, which buzzed off with the final score of 7-1 in favor of the hosts.

Ovechkin, who is the Russian national team’s three-time world champion, also became the 43rd player in the NHL history to pass the line of 500 scored goals and the fifth player to do it in the overall number of matches he played for the league.

Regarding the number of matches played in the NHL to pass the 500-goal threshold, Ovechkin follows Wayne Gretzky (575 games), Mario Lemieux (605 games), Mike Bossy (647 games) and Brett Hull (693 games).

Following tonight’s match the Russian forward of the Washington Capitals also took the lead in the race of this season’s top scorer boasting a total of 26 goals and 13 assists.

The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America. It is headquartered in New York City and is composed of 30 member clubs: 23 in the United States and 7 in Canada.