SAN JOSE, Calif. — Alex Ovechkin bounced back from a sluggish start to his California road trip by netting his 887th career goal, helping the Washington Capitals secure a 5-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks. This crucial goal now places Ovechkin just eight shy of surpassing Wayne Gretzky’s longstanding NHL record.
Ovechkin’s trip began without a single goal in the first two games, and he didn’t record any shots on goal during a defeat against Los Angeles. Despite missing out on his initial three shots and failing to capitalize on power plays, Ovechkin found his stride late in the game against the Sharks.
Spencer Carbery, the Capitals’ coach, expressed optimism, saying, “Hopefully that helps him. You could feel he was gripping it a little bit. Power play, he’s been struggling. He hasn’t been getting as many quality looks with his line. … For him to get that goal, hopefully that’s a good boost for him and grabs him some momentum heading back home and feeling good about his game going into our home games this week.”
Ovechkin’s milestone came as he redirected a shot from Martin Fehervary into the net, slipping it past goaltender Georgi Romanov with just over nine minutes left in the third period. The crowd erupted into chants of “Ovi! Ovi!” as fans gathered eagerly hoping to witness Ovechkin’s historic moment.
“It’s great,” Ovechkin remarked. “Lots of people are now watching and lots of attention. It’s a great feeling.”
This goal marked Romanov as the 182nd goaltender Ovechkin has scored against, from a total of 217 faced in his 20-season tenure. By scoring, he avoided tying his longest dry spell of the season, a similar streak persisting earlier in the year.
In the aftermath of his goal-less period, Ovechkin managed to find the net 14 times over 22 games, edging closer to Gretzky’s record of 894 goals. With 15 games left this season, Ovechkin has a promising opportunity during next week’s three-game home stretch to edge closer to this monumental achievement.
While he hadn’t scored in the initial game of the road trip, Ovechkin did assist in three scoring plays, including setting up Dylan Strome’s opener against the Sharks. “He’s been passing to me too much,” Strome humorously observed. “We got to get him the puck more. He’s doing all the little things right. Nice for (Fehervary) to find him in the slot there. You could just see the crowd. Not much left to say at this point. Hopefully he can get a couple on this homestand here and inch closer and closer. We’re all excited obviously. It’s pretty cool.”
Shortly before Ovechkin’s goal, Trevor van Riemsdyk had ended his own lengthy scoring drought, netting a goal after 145 goalless games dating back to March 9, 2023. Reflecting on Ovechkin’s prowess, van Riemsdyk noted, “I definitely understand how hard it is to score. To see O keep doing this every night it seems like, he’s right there. It’s pretty cool. I think everyone understands how amazing this truly is. The quality of these goaltenders nowadays, how hard it is to score in this league. Every year people start doubting him, ‘Is this the year he’ll fall off?’ They’re going to have to keep waiting.”
At 39, the Russian veteran has tallied 34 goals this season alone, maintaining a streak of achieving at least 30 goals in 19 out of his 20 seasons. The sole exception was during the COVID-shortened season of 2020-21, where he logged 24 goals in a reduced 56-game schedule.
