After nine games this season, Alex Ovechkin is scoring at a rate that would allow him to beat Wayne Gretzky’s record next spring.
The Capitals captain scored the 858th goal of his career Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens. He is now only 37 goals away from beating Gretzky’s mark, which once seemed unbeatable.
“He was fantastic,” said teammate Aliaksei Protas, who scored with Ovechkin’s assist in a 6-3 victory. The way he celebrates, it feels like it’s his first NHL goal – considering he’s chasing one of the most incredible records. »
The 39-year-old Russian has already scored five goals this season and he continues to find the back of the net like no one else has at this age.
“We see it in his eyes, he is happy to be there, to celebrate like a child,” added Protas. It’s special. That’s what makes him an incredible player and scorer, that’s for sure. It’s seeing how much he loves finding the back of the net. »
By beating Cayden Primeau, Ovechkin scored against a 176th different goaltender in the National Hockey League. He is on pace to score more than 30 goals for the 19th time in his career and his 18th such season was already an NHL record.
After scoring three points against the Habs, Ovechkin praised his linemates, Protas and Dylan Strome.
“You can see empty nets (following their games),” Ovechkin said, smiling. (Strome and Protas) find me and I almost miss (the empty nets). »
Ovechkin and the Capitals won seven of their first nine games of the campaign for the first time since 2015-16.
“We’re having fun right now,” Ovechkin said. We support each other. When we win a match, we always find this atmosphere between the coaches and the players.
“I hope it continues like this, but whatever happens, it doesn’t matter because it’s a long season. There will be ups and downs, so we will have to stick together no matter what. »
