Alex Ovechkin entered a category all his own in the NHL record books on Saturday night, scoring his 787th career goal to give him the all-time record for the most goals scored for a single team. Ovechkin’s 787th career goal with the Washington Capitals surpassed the league record that had previously been held by Detroit Red Wings legend Gordie Howe.
Ovechkin’s historic goal came on a power play early in the second period, and it marked the opening goal of the Capitals’ Saturday night game against the Arizona Coyotes.
The Capitals drafted Ovechkin with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 NHL Draft, and he has been torturing opposing netminders ever since. Ovechkin has scored at least 50 goals in nine different seasons, and he has won the Maurice Richard Trophy as the league’s leading scorer nine times as well.
To Howe’s credit, he didn’t end his streak of goals with the Red Wings because he walked away from hockey after an illustrious career. Instead, Howe went on to play alongside his sons on the Houston Aeros and New England Whalers of the WHA. When the WHA folded, and the Hartford Whalers joined the NHL in the 1979-80 season, Howe scored 15 more goals at the age of 51.
The 37-year-old Ovechkin keeps rolling, putting himself among the sport’s best players while chasing Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record. Gretzky holds a substantial lead with his 894 career goals, so Ovechkin still has some work to do. Having said that, Ovechkin surpassed Mr. Hockey in the record books, and he has shown no real signs of slowing down offensively.
