Ovechkin: A Reverse Retro

On one of the coldest nights in the last couple decades in D.C., a full house at Capital One Arena was able to witness one of the warmest moments in the quarter century history of the big barn on F St. With a goal in the first period and an empty-net goal with a minute remaining, Caps captain Alex Ovechkin put the legendary Gordie Howe - Mr. Hockey - in the rearview mirror on Dec. 23, 2022, in a game against the Winnipeg Jets.

Ten nights after authoring a hat trick in Chicago to become the third player in NHL history to reach the 800-goal plateau, Ovechkin netted goals No. 801 and 802 to slide past Howe (801) for the second most goals in the history of the circuit, which was founded 105 years ago this month.
"It's history," says Caps center Dylan Strome, who helped set up goal No. 801. "Everyone in here talks about it, and we understand the history of the game and it's impressive. It's fun to watch, fun to be a part of. It's a dream come true, to be honest."
The best part of that spontaneous celebration ahead of the NHL's holiday break was that it came at home, in front of the Caps' captain's family and friends, and the fans who have adored Ovechkin for the better part of two decades now.
"It's nice to get it done at home, in front of our house; family, friends and obviously fans," said Ovechkin immediately after the game. "It's a great feeling."
The Capital One Arena scoreboard carried a tribute message from Mark Howe, Gordie's son and a Hockey Hall of Famer himself.
"I've had the opportunity to watch so many games as a scout, and you've been a pleasure to watch," says Mark Howe. "You're one of very few people in this game that brings a 'wow' factor. You embrace the fans. You're everything that my mother and father would be very proud of and I know that if they were here today, they would be at this hockey game and they would be the first ones to congratulate you.
"On behalf of the Howe family, I want to say congratulations and a job well done. Now it's time to set new goals for No. 99. Congratulations."
An outpouring of love, affection, respect and admiration followed - from family, teammates, friends, fans and opponents alike. Many have been fortunate enough to have been along from the very beginning of the ride, which dates back nearly two decades, spanning half of Ovechkin's life. Others - like Strome - have only recently joined the organization, but they all recognize what a rare and special moment took place here on Dec. 23, and what a rare and special talent Ovechkin is and has been.
"It's an incredible honor to be a part of this," says Caps goalie Charlie Lindgren. "When I signed with Washington, getting a chance to play with Alex Ovechkin, I thought that was the coolest thing in the world. And just to come here and see the kind of guy he is, he's so easy to talk to and he's really just a happy-go-lucky guy. Everyone just loves him.
"To see him get it done tonight, I think we were all excited to see him [tie Howe] and then to see him score with a minute left, and that tribute on the Jumbotron, the goose bumps I got from that, it was just so well done. I don't know how you could write a better script than that, and what Mark Howe said there.
"What Alex has meant to this whole community and the game of hockey and the National Hockey League, he's just such a special human and hockey player. It's just so cool to be a part of it. Never in a million years would I have thought I would have been a part of it, but to be here and see the kind of guy he is and the kind of hockey player he is, I couldn't be happier for him."
Ovechkin's ride is far from over, and a longer and more arduous chase is about to unfold before our very eyes over the seasons on the immediate horizon, with only The Great One - Wayne Gretzky (894) - now ahead of The Great Eight on that hallowed list.
With many games, days, nights and goals ahead of us between now and then, and with so much remarkable history in the recent and distant past, it's a good time to pause and to reflect on what we've witnessed. No matter how great and dominant a teenaged hockey phenom is when he is breaking into the NHL, it's impossible to divine which of the many young studs to come along over the years actually has what it takes to outlast and outpace so many of the game's all-time greats and "to build a ladder to the stars, and climb on every rung," to borrow from another all-time great, Bob Dylan.
Caps fans everywhere will rightfully point to June 7, 2018 as the greatest date in franchise history, as it's the day that Washington won its first Stanley Cup championship, with Ovechkin hoisting the Cup in Vegas after vanquishing the Golden Knights in five games. But one of the low key most important days in franchise history came early in the offseason following one of the worst Caps seasons in recent memory, the day the Caps learned they won the 2004 NHL Draft Lottery, jumping from third to first and landing the right to draft Alexander Ovechkin.
From that day - April 6, 2004 - nearly two decades ago, no one could have imagined what winning that lottery would mean to the player, the team, the fans, the franchise, the organization, the city, the NHL and the game of hockey. Everyone knew Ovechkin was a special player, but no one could have foreseen or predicted his remarkable career arc and his impact on the game in Washington and beyond.
Two days after the Caps concluded the 2003-04 season with a lackluster 23-46-10-3 record - the third worst mark in the NHL that season - the Caps won big when the ping pong balls went their way in the NHL's Draft Lottery, which was a low-key operation in those days, bereft of all the pomp and circumstance and drama and TV cameras that are part of that operation in modern times. Washington hopped over both Chicago and Pittsburgh, which finished with the second worst and worst records, respectively, in the League that season.
In the team offices, which in those days were housed a few blocks from what is now Capital One Arena, word spread via an email from team president Dick Patrick, and then-general manager George McPhee made an official statement after the news broke.
"We just feel in some way we were rewarded for the difficult task we undertook this year," McPhee said. "We hope today is the first day in a new era for the Capitals."
Those prescient words came less than three months prior to the 2004 NHL Draft, which was held in Raleigh, N.C. that year. Although the Caps were coy over those next 80 days, not tipping their hand in any fashion as to which player they might be leaning toward taking, there was no doubt. Within the hockey operations department, it was always going to be a young Russian phenom named Alexander Ovechkin.
Ovechkin was such a slam dunk first overall choice that the Florida Panthers tried to scheme a way to draft him a year early, in 2003. The cut-off date for eligibility for a given year's draft is Sept. 15, and with a birthdate of Sept. 17, 1985, Ovechkin missed the cutoff for the '03 draft by just two days.
Then-Panthers owner Alan Cohen allegedly hatched the scheme, claiming that because of the leap years Ovechkin had lived through to that point in his life, he was actually eligible to be selected in the '03 Draft. Then-Panthers GM Rick Dudley reluctantly went along with the ploy, attempting to select Ovechkin in the second, fifth, seventh and ninth rounds in an effort to mollify his insistent owner. To the surprise of no one, the League shot down the longshot attempt, leaving the talented young Russian for whichever team landed the first choice in 2004.
Every NHL draft produces players who go on to enjoy careers that eventually land them in the Hockey Hall of Fame. But not every player who is selected first overall goes on to enshrinement in the hallowed Hall. Of the 40 players chosen with the first overall choice from 1969 through 2008, eight have entered the Hall thus far, with as many others standing a reasonable - if not excellent - chance of getting in at some point.
Ovechkin (first overall in 2004) is one of those who is certain to go to the Hall, as are other active players from that time span such as Marc-Andre Fleury (2003), Sidney Crosby (2005), Patrick Kane (2007) and Steven Stamkos (2008). Retired players such as Pierre Turgeon (1987), Joe Thornton (1997) and Vincent Lecavalier (1998) - and perhaps some others - have varying degrees of possibility of eventually getting in.
Many first overall picks had underwhelming NHL careers, including the first player the Caps ever selected in an NHL Draft, defenseman Greg Joly, who was the first player chosen overall in 1974. The Caps had another first overall selection in 1976 and they chose defenseman Rick Green, who went on to a solid and lengthy overall career but will never be under Hall consideration.
All that said, Ovechkin was one of the surest first overall choices ever, and he had another certain future Hall of Famer go right behind him in Evgeni Malkin, who went to Pittsburgh with the second overall choice in the NHL Draft.
It's worth taking a look back at what the scouts and media of that era were saying about Ovechkin, a couple of years before he began to be referred to as "The Great Eight."
NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING BUREAU
Final Ranking:1 Mid-Term Ranking: 1
Central Scouting Report: "A complete package … superb skater, excellent acceleration and top speed … superb stickhandler, passer and playmaker … skates well through traffic … has an outstanding scoring touch with a great selection of shots … superb hockey sense … sees the ice extremely well … outstanding overall skill level … big, strong power forward with a great attitude … can hit and take a hit when needed and does not mind playing physical hockey … offensive minded star who does take care of his defensive duties … already a key player on Dynamo in the Russian league … has been a key player on junior national teams for several years … has all the tools, including attitude on and off the ice to become a superstar."
Personal Profile:Already a key forward on Dynamo in the Russian league, Ovechkin has been a key player on junior national teams for several years … his mother, Tatiana, won two Olympic gold medals in basketball (1976 and 1980) … his father, Mikhail, is a former professional soccer player … idolized former Soviet great Alexander Maltsev while growing up.
THE HOCKEY NEWS
"What is there not to like about this guy? Alexander Ovechkin may be the best prospect ever to come out of Russia. That's a field that includes Ilya Kovalchuk, Sergei Fedorov and Pavel Bure.
Ovechkin loves pressure, thrives in traffic and can score and hit with equal aplomb. A superb skater with excellent acceleration to a fourth gear, Ovechkin is a complete package.
His shot is precise and deceptive. He has a quick release on his wrist shot and his snap shot is second to none among draft prospects.
"His consistent work ethic is [what separates him from other top prospects]," a scout said. "[Other] players have talent, but consistency stops them from becoming a star."
Ovechkin isn't afraid to hang in the slot to prowl for rebounds and dishes out as much punishment as he takes. He has great hand-eye coordination and is a superb passer.
He has a tendency to over-handle the puck, but many scouts see that as an attribute.
"To top it off," a European scout added. "He's a really nice guy."

The Hockey News says: Franchise Player
RED LINE REPORT:
"Simply the best player on the planet not already playing in the NHL. Just call him Kovalchuk, only with a great work ethic and a much better attitude. Terrific all-around player is as complete a prospect as we've seen in the last 10 years. Explosive and dynamic every shift and just has so many ways to beat you. Tremendous talent level is equaled only by his character and maturity. Intimidating speed forces defenders to back in off blue line, allowing him to gain zone easily. Not only has skill level off the charts, but hits hard and has dedication to defence. Dynamic, game breaking natural goal scorer with rocket shot and fabulous moves he makes at top end speed. Puck follows him like a magnet. Able to get hard shots off with checkers draped all over him. A dangerous, disruptive force who must be accounted for at all times. What's left to say? Not as flashy and charismatic as Kovalchuk, but just as good a player, and is humble with no ego problem. Great teammate."
Projection: Dominant, world class star player
Style compares to:Jarome Iginla.
INTERNATIONAL SCOUTING SERVICE
June 6, 2004
REPORT CARD
Size/Strength A
Skating A
Shot/Scoring A+
Puckhandling A-
Hockey Sense A+
Leadership A+
Poise A
Defense A-
Skill:Natural goal scorer. Unbelievable quick wrist shot. Plays with a great amount of grit and determination. Has a nose for the net. Is an explosive skater.
Scouting Report:As soon as the 2003 NHL Draft had ended, every NHL General Manager was buzzing about the possibility of landing the "Next Great One." On April 6 we may have found out the answer. After winning the draft lottery the Washington Capitals will draft first overall for just the third time in its franchise history, and it would be an absolute bombshell if they didn't select Ovechkin. His on ice dominance on the International scene has been well documented by ISS over the last two years. If GM's needed proof Ovechkin, was head and shoulders above the rest of the 86 draft class, all one had to do was consider the following: first 17-year-old since the great Vladislav Tretiak to be selected to Russia's senior national team and last week Ovechkin was named to Russia's roster for the World Cup.
Impact: NHL Potential: NHL Superstar. Will have an immediate impact for the Capitals this season. Very aggressive and always active on ice.
Prior to being drafted by Washington, Ovechkin became the first Russian player in 35 years - since legendary goaltender Vladislav Tretiak - to be named to the Russian senior national team as a 17-year-old. He played for Russia in the 2004 IIHF World Championship, collecting a goal and two points in six games.
"I'm in my 13th year in the front office and I don't remember any other player that age playing in the world championships," said McPhee at the time. "And if they did, they certainly didn't play as well as he did."
As draft day drew nearer in that summer of 2004, there was some speculation around the League as to whether the Caps might trade the pick for a package of established players and prospects, or if Washington might opt for center Evgeni Malkin with the first overall pick.
The June 24 edition of the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel contained the following passage:
"Before Rick Dudley was fired as Panthers general manager, he talked with Capitals General Manager George McPhee about the No. 1 pick. Dudley says Ovechkin is the best player he has ever scouted.
Earlier this week, McPhee called Keenan and offered the No. 1 pick for defenseman Jay Bouwmeester and the No. 7 pick, according to a league source. Keenan quickly declined."
McPhee emphatically denied that ludicrous item at the time, and when pressed further on the trade chatter surrounding the first overall pick, he was asked how many teams had inquired as to what it would take to land that first overall choice.
"Maybe 15," he answered. "But there were three that made decent offers. We just think it's in the best interest of this franchise to make the selection. You don't get here very often and it's a chance to get a fantastic player."
The Caps made the selection, and they got a generational player.
History has shown Malkin to be an excellent player and a future Hall of Famer in his own right, and a player who would have been worthy of first overall status in most draft classes. But even though Malkin played a more desirable position, the Caps never gave any serious consideration to taking anyone but Ovechkin.
"Malkin has closed the gap but, he has never gone by [Ovechkin], in our opinion," said McPhee after choosing Ovechkin. "Ovechkin has always been number one. We could have done a trade for volume, but none of those players would have been as good as this guy. You don't get this opportunity very often.
"We have an outstanding player who has great character, and we are not going to put him in over his head. We will manage his ice time and expectations, and he'll get what he earns and what he deserves."
"He is a complete player," said Ross Mahoney, now Caps' assistant GM and then the team's director of amateur scouting. "He comes to play every shift. He works hard, he has good skill, he skates well, he shows good strength for his age, his work ethic is good. There are other players who maybe do some of those things well … but he is a complete player. That's the best way to describe him.
"He is definitely a very talented player and he has to rank among the top players that I've seen over the last 20 years."
Ovechkin spent the 2004-05 season with Moscow Dynamo where he totaled 13 goals and 27 points in 37 games as a 19-year-old, finishing fifth on the team in scoring. He arrived in the States in late August of 2005 after the lockout had been settled a month earlier. On Aug. 31, 2005, he signed his three-year entry level deal with the Caps.
A month later, on Sept. 30, Comcast SportsNet telecast a Caps preseason game against Pittsburgh at what was then known as MCI Center, the first preseason telecast in Washington's franchise history and the first NHL meeting between Ovechkin and Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby, the first overall choice in the 2005 NHL Draft. Ovechkin rose to the occasion with a hat trick and four points in a 4-3 Washington win.
On opening night of the 2005-06 NHL season in Washington, Ovechkin scored the first two of his more than 800 goals, playing on a line with Dainius Zubrus in the middle and Jeff Halpern on right wing. Both of his goals came in the second period of that Oct. 5, 2005 game against Columbus netminder Pascal Leclaire, the first of his 166 different goaltending victims to date. Both goals came off one-timers, and the second came on the power play.
"I feel my dreams come true," said Ovechkin after the game. "I play in the NHL. First game, we win."
On his first shift in the NHL, Ovechkin checked Blue Jackets blueliner Radoslav Suchy into the boards with enough ferocity to break a pane of glass and cause a delay until it was repaired.
Ovechkin became the first player in Washington's franchise history - and the League's first-ever first overall draft choice - to score twice in his NHL debut. He started his career with an eight-game point streak and had five two-goal games in his first 15 games in the League.
"It's amazing and he is only going to get better," said veteran teammate Jeff Friesen, himself a former first rounder who broke into the league as a teenager of whom much was expected. "I've never seen a guy who is as impressive as he is. He is still so excited to be in the NHL, yet he is humble.
"You need that hunger and somewhat of a selfishness to score, but you don't want to be seen as a selfish player. He has that balance. It's tremendous. He doesn't cheat, he doesn't walk around and act cocky or anything. He is just a great guy and I've never seen anybody that good, especially that young."
In December of 2005, Ovechkin recorded his first two four-point games in the NHL and he strung together six straight games with a goal from Dec. 22, 2005 to Jan. 1, 2006.
On a three-game road trip in mid-January, Ovechkin commanded the attention of the hockey world. After scoring Washington's only goal in a 4-1 loss at Dallas, he notched his first career hat trick on Friday the 13th (1/13/06) in Anaheim, scoring all three goals in a 3-2 Caps overtime victory. His third goal of the game was his 30th of the season, achieved in just 43 games.
"I'm happy to score three goals and win this game," he said afterwards. "It's my first hat trick in the NHL, and it feels like my first goal in the NHL."
On Jan. 16 in the trip finale in Phoenix, Ovechkin scored the game's first goal on a power-play in the first period, the fifth consecutive goal he scored for the team in a span of three games. His teammates erupted for four goals in the second period, enabling the Caps to carry a 5-1 lead into the third. Midway through the final frame, Ovechkin scored "The Goal," backhanding a loose puck past Brian Boucher after being knocked off his feet by Coyotes blueliner Paul Mara.
The win in Phoenix gave the Caps their first set of consecutive road wins all season, and "The Goal" quickly went viral, astounding the hockey world.
"It's like magic," said Caps defenseman Brendan Witt. "It's unbelievable. That last goal he scored has to be up for ESPY's goal of the year. He is a phenomenal kid. He comes to work every night and he just wants to win. He gives us a chance to win every time he puts the puck in the net and it's great to have him here in the organization."
"That was pretty sweet," admitted Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky. "He's a phenomenal player, and he's been a tremendous influence in the game. It's great to see because he is that good."
Asked what he was thinking when he was lying on the ice with the puck within his reach, Ovechkin's initial reply was three words: "I must score."
But he also showed no favoritism, loving all of his goals as a parent loves all their children.
"You know, every goal is special to you," said Ovechkin on that afternoon in Glendale. "Because your goal is to score goals, because you are a forward. If you score one goal, nice goal. Next game you score another goal, you are happy because you score goals. You do your job."
Minutes after Ovechkin passed Gordie Howe to move into second place on the NHL's all-time list in a Dec. 23, 2022 game against Winnipeg, Jets coach Rick Bowness referenced that goal in Arizona nearly 17 years ago. Bowness was an assistant coach with the Coyotes in those days.
"You know he is going to score goals," says the Jets' coach. "Listen, I was in Phoenix when he had that memorable goal when he fell down and took a backhand [shot and scored]. The defenseman Paul Mara came back to the bench and I said, 'Paul, you just played that 1-on-1 absolutely perfectly. You separated the man from the puck, you knocked him down, and he still found a way to score. So, give him credit.'
"I was on the bench in Phoenix for that one, and that stays with you. It shows you his perseverance and his character, his work ethic. Good for him. You know what? Really, congratulations to him. He deserves that."
Late in that rookie season of 2005-06, Ovechkin reached the 50-goal plateau for the first of nine times in his career, scoring No. 50 on April 13, 2006 in Atlanta, minutes after Thrashers winger - and former Caps great - Peter Bondra scored his 20th of the season. Ovechkin became just the fourth rookie to score 50 goals in the NHL, and he joined Teemu Selanne as just the second rookie to amass 50 goals and 100 points in his freshman season.
"I watched him on TV and on the highlights," said Selanne in January of 2006. "He is an incredible talent. And I saw him at the world championships. It's great to see when a guy comes into the league and is so excited about everything, [you can see it] in his body language: 'I want to score and I want to play well.' He reminds me of when I played in my first year."
Over the offseason, Ovechkin captured the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie at the NHL Awards in Vancouver, and days later he introduced Caps' first-round draft pick Nicklas Backstrom at the 2006 NHL Draft in that same city.
Atlanta was the site of a sophomore season explosion from Ovechkin on Dec. 15, 2006, a performance replete with overtones from his first hat trick in Anaheim 11 months earlier. Both games were Friday night road games and both featured Ovechkin scoring all three goals in a 3-2 Washington win in overtime. In Atlanta, he scored the game's first goal on a power play in the first period, and his second goal tied the game with 31 seconds left in regulation, and his third is the fastest overtime goal in franchise history - six seconds into the extra session - and tied for the fastest ever in NHL history.
"He's the kind of game-breaker every coach dreams about," said Caps coach Glen Hanlon that night. "If you don't have someone to score goals for you when the game is on the line, it's extremely difficult to win games."
Ovechkin's first "milestone" goal - the 100th of his NHL career - came early in his third season, on Oct. 12, 2007 against the Rangers in New York. After getting out to a perfect 3-0-0 start to the 2007-08 season, the Caps dropped a 3-1 decision to the Rangers, with Ovechkin's 100th career tally their only goal of the game. The goal came against Henrik Lundqvist in Ovechkin's 167th career game and included a backhand-to-forehand deke that enabled him to skirt Rangers defenseman - wait for it - Paul Mara.
Days after the NHL's Christmas break in 2007, Ovechkin notched the first four-goal game of his career in an 8-6 Caps win over the Senators in Ottawa on Dec. 29, 2007. Two nights after leaving a game against Pittsburgh with a gash to his thigh that required stitches, Ovechkin scored one in the first, one in the second and two in the third period, reaching the 30-goal plateau for the season with his fourth goal of the night.
"It was bothering me," Ovechkin admitted afterwards. "It was a little bit of pain, but it's okay. I feel pretty good tonight. My parents were here; they arrived from Moscow, and I was excited. It was a great time."
His next four-goal game came just over a month later against a different Canadian team, but this time at home, his first hat trick in the District. On Jan. 31, 2008, against the Canadiens, Ovechkin delivered another memorable performance in which he had to play through some pain.
Ovechkin suffered a cut on his mouth from an errant puck and later broke his nose when Montreal's Francois Bouillon checked him cleanly into the boards near the Washington bench. He still scored once in each period - reaching the 40-goal plateau with his first goal of the game - and winning it for Washington with his fourth goal of the game at 3:34 of overtime, the third of his four hat tricks to that point of his career that included a game-winner in the extra session.
"Oh, it's an unbelievable feeling," Ovechkin said afterwards. "I go to a Web site about the Capitals and the fans want to see 'Ovechkin hat trick, Ovechkin hat trick.' I am just happy I could please them, it's pretty fun."
Ovechkin's next hat trick also came at home and included his 50th goal of the season, coming in a 10-2 dismantling of the Boston Bruins on March 3, 2008. This time, Ovechkin scored all three goals in the first period, part of a six-goal barrage from the Caps in a span of 18 minutes and 11 seconds of the opening frame.
Originally credited with a fourth goal in the third period, Ovechkin settled for a primary assist when official scorers changed the goal later in the evening. He finished with a five-point night.
Later that month, Ovechkin became the second Caps player to score as many as 60 goals in a season. His 60th goal came on March 21, 2008 in Atlanta in a must-win game, a game in which Washington trailed 3-1 going into the third period. The Caps outshot the Thrashers 23-2 in the third, and Ovechkin scored his 60th goal and assisted on a pair of Backstrom goals - all in a span of just over five minutes in the back half of the third - to power his team to a 5-3 victory in a four-point (two goals, two assists) performance.
"It's always fun to score goals, especially when it's important goals," said Ovechkin. "It was a very important goal for my team right now. It doesn't matter if I don't score and somebody [else] score. I'll be happy, too. But 60 is 60."
The win in Atlanta was the start of season-ending seven-game winning streak that propelled the Caps to their first playoff berth of the Ovechkin era. Although they were ousted in overtime of Game 7 in a first-round series against Philadelphia, the Caps' "Rock The Red" era was underway.
At the 2008 NHL Awards Show in Toronto in June of 2008, Ovechkin walked off with an historic collection of hardware. He brought home the Hart, Ross, Pearson (now Lindsay), and Richard Trophies, becoming the first player ever to bring home all four of those trophies in the same season. Ovechkin finished '07-08 with 65 goals and 112 points, and both figures remain single-season career highs.
"I want to win everything," declared Ovechkin. "Next time, the Stanley Cup.
"These awards and all awards are all about my teammates, coaches, training staff and everything, all Capitals organization. They gave me a great chance. They gave me trust to prove what I can do on the ice. And the fans are unbelievable. They support us and love us; it doesn't matter what happens, we still have our fans.
"I think we have a great future. We have great young guys who play well. We had a great experience this year and I hope next year we improve more and more."
The awards haul came a day after he launched his own clothing line, and days before he was given the "key to the city" of D.C. by then-mayor Adrian Fenty.
"I think I'm the happiest 22-year-old guy on the planet right now," said Ovechkin. "I have a great family. Everything I have I made myself from working hard. And I know it's improving. I'm happy right now with what I'm doing and how everything is going."
Upon receiving the key to the city, he quipped: "Today, probably it's a big day. I have a key for the city, and I'm the president today of the city. So, everybody have fun, and no speed limits."
Midway through the '08-09 season, Ovechkin scored five goals in two games to pull to within a goal of 200, a milestone he reached on Feb. 5, 2009 in a 5-4 loss to the Kings in D.C. He reached the 200 mark in his 296th career game, becoming the fifth player in League history to do so before playing in his 300th game.
In falling to what was a career-low 32 goals at the time in 2010-11, Ovechkin netted his 300th career goal in Toronto on April 5, 2011, in the Caps' penultimate road game of the regular season, and the game in which they clinched a fourth straight Southeast Division title.
"It feels good," said Ovechkin of his milestone marker. "When you score 300 goals in six years, it's a big accomplishment. I play for a great team and my partners give me sometimes unbelievable chances to score goals. Without them, I don't score those goals."
Nearly three years later, Ovechkin reached 400 goals with an empty-net goal against the Hurricanes in Carolina on Dec. 20, 2013. Ovechkin's output slowed after he racked up four 50-goal campaigns in his first five seasons in the League. He put up three straight seasons with goal totals in the thirties, but he led the League with 32 in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. Ovechkin scored 22 goals in his last 21 games of '12-13 to hit the 30-goal plateau for the eighth time in as many seasons in the League.
By the time he hit 400 in Carolina, he had scored 52 goals in his previous 56 regular season games, and he was halfway to 800, though no one was talking about it then.
"It's a big number and being in this kind of company is a tremendous honor for me," said Ovechkin. "I never felt like I would be in this position when I started playing in the NHL, of course I wanted to be. Thanks to everybody; my coaches, my partners. Without them I can't reach these numbers."
"It's fun," said Backstrom of his linemate's milestone. "As we all know, he is a pretty good goal scorer. It's always fun to see a player accomplish something big. I think 400 goals in however many games he has, it's great. We all know he's a great player and good for him."
Ovechkin finished that 2013-14 season with 51 goals, reaching the 50-goal plateau after an absence of three seasons. The '13-14 season was the first of three straight 50-goal seasons, surrounding his 30th birthday in 2015, a run that put him squarely on course to challenge the likes of Howe and Gretzky.
On Jan. 9, 2016, against the Rangers in New York, Ovechkin scored the game's first goal and then netted the game-winner in overtime to reach 499 career goals in the final game of a five-game road stretch. A night later against Ottawa and goaltender Andrew Hammond, in front of the home crowd in D.C., he scored two more to reach and surpass the 500-goal mark. Number 500 came late in the second period on a power play, from his left dot office off a cross-ice feed from Jason Chimera.
"It is a special moment," says Ovechkin. "It is nice to be in that category. It is really hard to score in this league right now, system-wise.
"If you get to 30 goals, 35 goals, you're lucky. Without my teammates' help, without the system - how we play - it is very hard to do."
Immediately after the red light went on, Caps players spontaneously poured over the bench and onto the ice to celebrate with their captain.
"I think it's such a big milestone, and not a lot of players have done it as fast as him," noted Backstrom. "It kind of came naturally for us to jump up and celebrate with him. It's a big moment for him and the city of Washington, I think."
Only four players in NHL history - Gretzky, Mike Bossy, Mario Lemieux and Brett Hull - reached the 500 plateau faster than Ovechkin, who did so in his 801st NHL game.
"That's something that I think everyone in this room will remember for a long time; forever," said Caps right wing Tom Wilson. "It was pretty special to be a part of, and that's cool. He's our leader and he does such a good job of including everyone. He includes the fans; he includes all of his teammates. That's just an unbelievable feat from an unbelievable player, but it's cool for everyone to be a part of it. He definitely shares it with us."
In 2016-17, Ovechkin's goal output fell once again. His goal total declined to 33 and his average ice time figure of 18:22 per night remains the lowest of his career. He played in all 82 games, but managed just four multi-goal games, had a 10-game goal drought in the second half of the season and scored more than half - 17 of 33 - of his goals on the power play, where he led the League (tied) for the fifth consecutive season, a feat unmatched in the circuit's history.
In addition to the lower offensive output, there was the matter of the team's ongoing lack of postseason success. It weighed on the organization as a whole, and as the team's captain since 2009, it weighed on Ovechkin as well. In a postseason autopsy piece that we published in this space in May of 2017, indications of the coming turnabout can be found.
"I think he had a down year," says [Caps' GM Brian] MacLellan of Ovechkin. "I know that less ice time would correlate with less production. Talking to him at the end, he is disappointed in the playoff performance, in the results he had and the results our team had. He is frustrated as much as we all are.
"For him moving forward, he is getting into the low thirties, and he is going to have to look for ways that he can evolve into a player who can still have a major impact on the game. The game is getting faster. He is going to have to train in a different way, more a speed way than a power way. He is going to have to make adjustments to stay relative in the game."
Ovechkin no longer possesses separation speed, but with an adjustment to his conditioning regimen he may be able to remain a relevant offensive force in the league for years to come.
"Hundred percent," says Ovechkin. "I was talking with my strength coach who I work with in the summer, and we're going to try to do some different things because at this level of hockey, you have to be fast, you have to be strong. And conditioning-wise, you have to be very, very good. Of course, you don't want to start it right away, but you have to realize you don't get younger, you only get older. So you have to think and you have to feel when it's time to start training again. And don't take long rests."
Whether Ovechkin's decline in production is a one-year anomaly or the beginning of the backside of his career arc remains to be seen.
"He has the potential [to score more than 33]," says MacLellan. "Like I said before, he needs to make adjustments. He is always going to have potential on the power play because he has a great shot and he is a good fit on our power play, the way it is set up. Five-on-five goals are going to be the key for him; how much he can create at five-on-five. And he is going to have to make some adjustments in the way he approaches the game in the offseason to get to the point where he can score some five-on-five goals."
As we all know now, the rebound was remarkable, both for Ovechkin and the Capitals. Again, he scored 17 power-play goals in 2017-18, but that figure wasn't enough to lead the League anymore. However, his 49 goals did lead the NHL. As MacLellan suggested, Ovechkin needed to find ways to score more goals at 5-on-5 and he did so.
He notched a hat trick in Ottawa on opening night and netted four more two nights later in the home opener against Montreal. Only one of those seven goals came on the power-play, and a seemingly new model of Ovechkin was introduced.
The goals kept coming, and on March 12, 2018, in the team's first game back home following a west coast road trip, Ovechkin netted a pair of goals against Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck. He scored on a 5-on-3 power play in the first period and then banged home his own rebound in the second, netting career goal No. 600 in the process.
"We talked about this after the outdoor game [in Annapolis on March 3]," said Ovechkin, who netted No. 600 in his 990th career game in the league to become just the fourth player to reach the milestone ahead of his 1,000th game in the League. "As soon as [the media] starts pushing it, it's kind of annoying, but it's your job. Finally, it's over. And now we're going to talk about hockey and not about numbers."
"It's a free meal for me, for sure," quipped Evgeny Kuznetsov after assisting on No. 600. "It's huge. When you look at those numbers, you don't even think, ah, it's like 599, 600. But when you understand, it's like, holy f\\k, that's a lot of goals, you know? I can't score like 20 in a year, and this is 600. That's huge. That's a special talent, for sure."
Sitting at 45 goals with three games remaining in the regular season, Ovechkin put on a push to return to the coveted 50 mark. He scored in St. Louis and scored in Nashville in the team's final two road games of the season, coming home with 47 for a date with the Devils in the season's finale in D.C. He didn't quite make it to 50, falling a goal short, but no one who was there will forget the third period of that game.
Having scored once in the first again early in the third to push his season total to 49, the Caps and then-coach Barry Trotz went all in to try to get Ovechkin to the magical 50 mark, playing him for more than half (10:16) of the third period, and for 6:04 of the game's final 8:10. Teammates funneled the puck his way and he kept cranking shots on the New Jersey net, but he missed on many of his best looks and had to settle for a 49-goal season.
"I said going into this [game] we would just go [with] four lines and not worry about match-ups," said Trotz. "And then Ovi ended up with two, and the puck kept following him around. I just said, 'Keep [your shifts] short, I'm going to use you a lot. See if you can go for it.'
"And the guys on the bench were trying. He must have had 25 shot attempts. And [the Devils] were standing next to him, too. That just tells you how good he is sometimes. I was praying that he would get 50, and everybody on the bench was, too. But still, 49 goals, there are not that many guys in this league that can do what he has done. He has been outstanding."
Ovechkin finished the night with 18 shot attempts and eight shots on net.
"I had pretty good chances in the first and the second," shrugged Ovechkin. "In the third, the breakaway, I missed the net. But whatever. S\\t happens."
Exactly two months later in Las Vegas, something wondrous happened. Washington vanquished Vegas in five games in the Stanley Cup Final, and a buoyant and joyful Ovechkin proudly hoisted the Cup over his head, the first championship in franchise history. Ovechkin also won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP that spring; his 15 goals and 27 points in 24 games certainly took the sting out of falling a goal short of 50 during the regular season.
"We did it," exuded Ovechkin after the win in Vegas. "That's all that matters. Look at the smiles on my teammates. This is something you'll never forget. This moment, I'll remember for the rest of my life. I'm so happy. It's unbelievable."
Ovechkin scored a power-play goal in that clinching game, accepting a brilliant saucer pass from Backstrom and blasting a one-timer past Marc-Andre Fleury from his office to give the Caps a 2-1 lead midway through the second period. It was fitting to see the two biggest stars in franchise history both doing what they've done best for so long in a game that mattered so much.
In 2018-19, Ovechkin wouldn't be denied in his quest for the half-century mark. He had seven multi-goal games in the first half of the season, including back-to-back hat tricks in mid-December of 2018. On March 30, 2019, he netted a pair of goals to reach and exceed the magic number, finishing with 51 goals, his eighth season with 50 or more.
"Obviously you want to score as early as possible," says Ovechkin, "but I had pretty good chances before. It's going to eventually come, especially when the guys know that I have 49, and they try to find me all of the time. Thanks to them."
The 2019-20 season was interrupted by a global pandemic, but Ovechkin was once again on pace for 50 goals when the season shut down. He played in 68 of Washington's 69 games before the season was abruptly halted, scoring 48 goals. He had five multi-goal games in January, scoring 13 goals in the month, and netting eight goals in a three-game span leading into the All-Star break.
In addition to moving past a number of the game's all-time greats as the season wore on, he managed to score No. 700 on a Saturday afternoon in New Jersey, roughly two weeks before the season ground to a halt.
Nick Jensen and Kuznetsov combined to set him up for the milestone marker early in the third period against New Jersey netminder MacKenzie Blackwood.
"A good pass by Kuzy," recounts Ovechkin. "I hit the net, and it hits the post and goes in. It's over, so we move on."
Washington's bench emptied, as Ovechkin was engulfed in a swarm of white sweaters swarming onto the ice to congratulate him on another monumental milestone.
During the pandemic-abbreviated 2020-21 season, Ovechkin suited up for only 45 of the team's 56 games, and his offensive output descended to 24 goals, the lowest total of his NHL career.
When the 2021-22 season got underway, a 36-year-old Ovechkin poured 15 pucks into opposing nets in the first 19 games of the season, moving past Marcel Dionne (731) and Brett Hull (741) in the process. On March 15, 2022, Ovechkin netted his 37th goal of the season in Washington against the New York Islanders to move past Jaromir Jagr (766) and into the NHL's top three on the all-time list.
The goal came two seconds after an offensive-zone face-off, following an icing call on New York. Ovechkin victimized former teammate Semyon Varlamov.
"I just close my eyes and shoot," joked Ovechkin. "I had pretty good chances in the previous games, and finally Kuzy wins a good face-off and put it right on my stick. And I scored on my very good friend Varly, so that's nice, too."
He didn't stop there, either. Beginning with that goal against the Isles, Ovechkin scored 14 goals in a span of 17 games to finish the season with 50 on the nose, his ninth 50-goal season, tied with Gretzky and Mike Bossy for the most in League history. His 50th came in Vegas on April 20, 2022, the second of two goals that night at the site of his team's greatest triumph just under four years earlier.
"Obviously it's pretty good company," said Ovechkin. "I'm pretty happy. When you score the first one, you feel pretty good about the game. I think our line today feels good, we have pretty good chances. It's one of the nights you're feeling it."
"I thought he played really hard out here tonight, and really hard in Colorado [in the previous game]," said Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "And he really set the example for our team. Amazing accomplishment, 50 goals again. I think as a more veteran player, being able to accomplish that where he is in his career right now as well, is pretty special."
To Laviolette's point, Ovechkin finished 2021-22 with 90 points, his first 90-point season in more than a decade, since 2009-10. Father Time remains undefeated, but Ovechkin is getting his punches in.
Now 37 years old and in the midst of his 18th season in the League, Ovechkin is off to another strong start in 2022-23, on pace for a 49-goal season a few games shy of the midway mark of the campaign. Coming into this season with 780 career goals, we all knew that three consecutive Ovechkin goals - Nos. 800, 801 and 802 - would be met with much attention. With Washington in the middle of one of its longest road trips during his career, Ovechkin struck for four goals in three games to climb to 797.
On Dec. 13 in Chicago, the Caps reached the end of a stretch in which they'd spent nearly all of the previous three weeks on the road. Twenty-four seconds into the first, Ovechkin scored No. 798. Later in the first came No. 799, and in the front half of the third, he made history with a confluence of his 29th hat trick, his 18th season with 20 or more goals, and his 800th career goal, becoming just the third player ever to climb that high up the ladder.
Caps players leaped off the bench and onto the ice after that third goal, and Chicago fans and the Blackhawks' game operations crew did the achievement justice with a rousing standing ovation, downpour of hats, chants of his nickname and a scoreboard graphic/public address announcement.
"That's great," says Ovechkin. "They chant my name, throw their hats. Even in warm-ups, I was feeling that energy right away, that the fans were watching me, and the fans wanted to see those historical moments."
Four games without a goal followed that outburst in Chicago, but four games without a goal is the most he has gone without lighting the lamp this season. Late in the first period of that Dec. 23 game against the Jets, Ovechkin scored No. 801 to tie Howe, taking a drop pass from Strome and firing it through the five-hole of Jets goalie David Rittich on the first shot he ever fired against him. Rittich became the 166th different goaltender The Great Eight has scored against.
Every time Ovechkin touched or came near the puck thereafter, the buzz in the barn was palpable. Having already witnessed No. 801, everyone in the house wanted one more before Ovechkin and the Caps paused for the holiday break. With the Winnipeg net vacant and exactly a minute remaining, they got what they came for.
After the game, Ovechkin posed for pictures with his two young sons, Sergei and Ilya, with each of them holding one of their father's latest milestone pucks. Then he spoke with the media for the first time as the NHL's second-leading goal scorer of all-time.
"Very emotional," he admitted. "My parents are watching from home [in Moscow], my wife's here, my kids are here, friends. And how I said, to do it in front of the home crowd, it's special. I thank them for all their support. It's pretty big; it's a history moment. It's nice to be in this category of players, and it's pretty cool."
The Caps captain has always been proud and happy to share his achievements with fans, teammates and coaches alike, and this one was no exception.
"I'm lucky enough to be able to stay healthy and to be able to score so many goals," he said. "I want to say first of all, thanks to all my teammates who I play [with], to coaches for the trust, for the opportunity to be able to be out there in different situations. Without them, I would never reach those milestones and those numbers."
And just as no scout could have predicted in 2004 that Ovechkin would eventually pass Howe and have only Gretzky to beat, The Great Eight never saw it coming, either.
"You never thought it was going to happen when you came into the League, that you're going to beat any Gordie Howe record," says Ovechkin. "Or any Wayne Gretzky record, or something like any record. You felt like, 'Okay, you're going to play in the NHL. Maybe you're going to be good, and you're going to try to do your best.' But the whole situation happening right now, it's a miracle. It's pretty special."
It's special, indeed. And it's been special for more than 18 years now, for essentially half of Ovechkin's life, since the day McPhee strolled to the stage in Raleigh in late June of 2004 to make the pick that altered the course of hockey history here in D.C. and beyond. McPhee and his peers knew that Ovechkin was a special player then, but none of them could have predicted the majestic career arc he has laid out over 18 seasons and counting, more than 1,300 regular season games, and all of them in a Caps sweater.
"He has brought the sport of hockey and the Caps' name to a whole different level in this city," says Mark Howe. "And every time he would shoot a puck, my thoughts would be, 'Thank God I didn't have to get in front of that and block it.' He is fun to watch, and it's been great, the loyalty that has been shown between the organization and himself. It's nice to see for some of us old-timers."
Ovechkin scored at a rate of .68 goals per game in his first five seasons, with 269 goals in 396 games. He slowed over the next two seasons, falling to a rate of .45 goals per game despite being in his scoring prime. All these years later, his overall scoring has slowed by approximately half a season. He needed 635 games with which to score his first 401 goals and 675 games to net the next 401.
Amateur prognosticators are already trying to divine the date on which Ovechkin might net No. 895 to move into the top spot on the list, some two or three years down the road. Howe scored a record 260 goals after the age of 35, scoring at a remarkable rate of .40 goals per game until his retirement at the age of 52 in 1980.
Ovechkin has already scored 96 goals - in just 159 games - since his own 35th birthday. While Howe's rate of scoring after the age of 35 ranks 11th all-time, Ovechkin sits atop that list at .60 per game since he turned 35, well ahead of Hockey Hall of Famer Frank Mahovlich (.48) who is second.
Under contract for the next three and a half seasons, Ovechkin needs only to remain healthy and to remain reasonably effective to take a serious run at Gretzky's hallowed 894 mark. But in typical Ovechkin fashion, he doesn't want to talk about any of that now. Worn out from the constant media attention over the last several weeks, he's looking to lay low for the next 90 goals or so.
"Step by step guys," he says with the slightest shake of the head. "Still a long way. Right now, it's time to spend time with the family and just enjoy that moment. We're going to have I think three days to just chill, relaxing and get ready for [our next game against the] Rangers."
Ovechkin was then asked how he would celebrate this latest of many achievements. Given the temperatures outside, cavorting in a Georgetown fountain with teammates and fans - as he did more than four years earlier when he and the Caps brought the Cup home from Vegas - didn't seem like a prudent possibility.
"I'm going to the bar right now," he deadpanned, to laughter from the assembled media. "Hot dog, nachos, why not?"