On Thursday, the Washington Capitals completed a third-period comeback win over the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center. However, the main event happened in the first period: Alex Ovechkin scored his 26th goal of the season and the 879 regular-season goal of his career. He is now only 16 goals away from setting an NHL regular-season scoring record with 28 games remaining. Washington’s captain has scored in four straight games with only one remaining before the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
Ovechkin’s Mind-Numbing Success Against NHL Goalies
While he isn’t the first and likely won’t be the last, Flyers goalie Ivan Fedotov became the 180th goaltender Washington’s superstar has scored on in his career to extend his own record. Last month, Ovechkin scored the winner in a 1-0 overtime win against Ottawa Senators goalie Leevi Merilainen. That goal broke the tie with Jaromir Jagr, who had scored on 178 different NHL goalies.
After the game, head coach Spencer Carbery spoke about watching his superstar score. “You become a little bit numb to it,” Carbery chuckled. “Still, after games, you take a step back and go, woah, this is incredible how he continues to score at this level at the age he is at. We just enjoy it. We’re glad he’s on our side.”
Related: Capitals Move Into First in the NHL With Win Over the Flyers
Ovechkin has scored on a staggering 84% of goalies he’s faced in the NHL. The Russian wizard has faced 215 goalies, and only 35 can claim that they did not concede a goal to one of the game’s most prolific scorers in his 20-plus-year career.
Washington’s Captain Always Clutch
Ovechkin’s first-period goal tied the game at 1-1 with under a minute to play off a brilliant pass from Martin Fehervary that barely touched the Russian’s stick as he redirected a shot past Fedotov at 19:07. It was the 98th time he’s scored in the final sixty seconds of play in a period, tying Wayne Gretzky for the most in NHL history.
Flyers head coach John Tortorella earned an additional piece of unwanted Ovechkin lore last night, too. It was the 35th time Ovechkin has scored against a Tortorella-coached team. Behind him is Buffalo Sabres bench boss Lindy Ruff, who has watched Ovechkin score 34 times against his teams.
Ovechkin Aging Like Fine Wine
In the last three seasons, Ovechkin has scored 149, or 17%, of his 879 NHL goals from age 36 to 39 when most veterans are in decline or mostly in a role-playing position. Washington’s captain has continued to produce, and he sits one goal shy of becoming only the fourth NHL player to score 150 goals after turning 36 years old.
With his next goal celebration, Ovechkin will join Gordie Howe (235 goals), Johnny Bucyk (193), and Teemu Selanne (192) as the only NHL skaters to accomplish the feat. Howe is the only one to score goals for two different NHL teams, posting 15 goals with the Hartford Whalers in 1979-80 when he was over 50 after spending decades with the Detroit Red Wings, starting in 1946-47.
With his goal tonight, Alex Ovechkin tied Phil Esposito (1,590) for the 11th-most points in NHL history.
— Capitals PR (@CapitalsPR) February 7, 2025
The 40th point of Ovechkin’s 2024-25 campaign moves him into a tie with Boston Bruins forward Phil Esposito for 11th all-time with 1,590 regular-season points. Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby is the only active NHL player with more points in his career (1,654). Those two NHL stars are scheduled to battle in their first matchup following the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Washington’s winger has one more opportunity to cash in before the 4 Nations Face-Off with an afternoon game on Sunday at Capital One Arena against the Utah Hockey Club. Then, the NHL veteran will get an incredibly rare two-week vacation from the NHL to recharge before the final surge toward Gretzky’s goal record truly begins.
