Ovechkin led the NHL in goals (13) and ranked fifth in points (15) in January as he surpassed four Hockey Hall of Fame members on the
NHL's all-time goals list
to move within five goals of 700 in his career and help the Capitals (35-12-5, 75 points) maintain their position as the League's No. 1 team for a
second straight month
. The 34-year-old recorded three straight multi-goal games for the first time in his career (Jan. 13-18) and also netted
11 goals in five games
for the first time (Jan. 13-31). He scored a hat trick on both Jan. 16 and Jan. 18 to become the third player in NHL history - and just the second in the past 98 years - to record consecutive hat tricks three times in his career, joining Wayne Gretzky (3x) and Joe Malone (4x). A total of five multi-goal games in January helped him score 13 or more goals in a calendar month for the first time since April 2013 and fifth time in his career. On track to become the second-fastest player in NHL history to
reach the 700-goal mark
(behind Gretzky), Ovechkin begins February with a share of the League lead in goals in 2019-20 (37). The eight-time Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy winner needs three goals to join Gretzky (12) as the second player to hit the 40-goal mark in 11 seasons.
