Ovechkin has Howe family support trying to become No. 2 all-time in goals

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Alex Ovechkin remaining at 800 goals his past two games might prove to be serendipitous.

The Washington Capitals left wing will try again for his 801st goal to tie Gordie Howe for second in NHL history against the Detroit Red Wings at Capital One Arena on Monday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSWA, BSDET, ESPN+, SN NOW).
Howe played the first 25 of his 26 NHL seasons and scored 786 goals with the Red Wings before retiring for the first time in 1971 when he was 42. He came out of retirement in 1973 to play six seasons in the World Hockey Association with Houston and New England and, following the merger with the WHA, a final NHL season with the Hartford Whalers in 1979-80, adding another 15 goals to his total, including his last when he was 52.
Although Ovechkin understands how fitting it would be to at least tie for second in goals against the Red Wings, the team with which Howe remains synonymous, he's not counting on anything.
"It would be nice, obviously," he said after the Capitals morning skate Monday. "But you never know what's going to happen."
Gordie Howe died in 2016 when he was 88, but his sons Mark and Marty, also his teammates in the WHA and with Hartford, will be in Washington on Monday to watch Ovechkin's latest bid to catch their father before he moves on to chasing the NHL record of 894 goals held by Wayne Gretzky.
"It's great," Ovechkin said. "When we met last time, he said when you're going to be close, if I have a chance they'll come and watch the game and I hope this happens."
Ovechkin met Mark Howe, a Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman who played 16 NHL seasons before retiring in 1995, when the Capitals played at Detroit's Little Caesars Arena on Nov. 3. Ovechkin scored his 786th goal with the Capitals that night to tie Gordie for the most NHL goals with one team.
"We talked about history a little bit and stuff like that," Ovechkin said. "It was pretty cool"
Ovechkin and Mark Howe also sat down together when the Capitals visited the Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 7. Mark wanted Ovechkin to know that the Howe family is behind him in his pursuit of their father's goal mark and Gretzky's record.
"The way I looked at it is it's one thing to see someone speaking (in a prerecorded congratulatory video) on a jumbotron on somebody's behalf, but I think it means a lot more if you have met that person and you know that person," Mark Howe said. "I know when Patrick Marleau was breaking Dad's record (for NHL regular-season games) a year ago and I got a chance to talk to him on the phone, I know how much it meant to him. So, it kind of lets you know what kind of person it was."
Ovechkin met Gordie Howe at the 2009 NHL All-Star Game Bell Centre in Montreal. A signed photo of them together in the locker room remains one of Ovechkin's prized possessions.
"It's probably my top thing in my collection," he said. "Obviously, (photos with) Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky's stick, Mario Lemieux's stick, it's probably the top one."
Mark and Marty Howe have no doubt that Gordie would be rooting for Ovechkin, like he supported Gretzky before he passed him for the NHL record by scoring his 802nd goal March 23, 1994, with the Los Angeles Kings against the Vancouver Canucks.
"Oh yeah," said Marty Howe, a defenseman who played six seasons in the NHL before retiring in 1985. "He knows what it was like when he passed 'The Rocket' (Maurice Richard, for first in goals by scoring his 545th on Nov. 10, 1963). So, it was the right thing to do."
"I think it helped a lot just because he had known Wayne," Mark Howe said. "But whether it be Alex or somebody he didn't know, dad wasn't envious of other people. He was happy for other people."
Ovechkin looked like he would race pass Gordie Howe after he scored seven goals in four games, including his 29th NHL hat trick in a 7-3 victory at the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday to reach 800. But the 37-year-old was held without a goal in a 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Thursday and a 5-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.

Ovechkin was unable to score on seven shots on goal in the past two games but had an assist against the Stars and made a physical impact against the Maple Leafs with a team-high six hits, including one that sent defenseman Conor Timmins over the boards into the Capitals bench.
"Like anything, inside of his long career of scoring goals, it's going to come," Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said. "We don't talk about it much. We don't focus on it; we focus on the game and the team concept. We focus on the power play and the structure. We focus on 5-on-5, and what to do. And inside of that at some point it'll come.
"The big thing I always talk about is the process. Just play the game the right way and good things will happen."
Good things have been happening for Ovechkin that way for 18 NHL seasons. Having watched Ovechkin steadily climb the NHL goals list, the Howes have been expecting him to pass their father for a while.
So, there's no bitterness.
"Records are meant to be broken, and that's to be No. 2," Mark Howe said. "Anytime you can pass Gordie Howe in anything, I think it's a major achievement. But I think with Alex and the way he's spent his career, I'm sure his sights are set a little bit higher."
The only player higher than Gordie Howe in goals is Gretzky. Mark Howe believes Ovechkin has a good chance to pass him, too.
"Oh yeah, sure, if he can stay healthy," Mark Howe said. "Maybe two great years, three. It comes down to, for me, I had the aches and pains, but your passion just overtakes everything. … Until Alex hits that point, there's no reason that he can't. He's big and strong and young and he hasn't had a ton of injuries.
"The injuries finally caught up to me. But as long as he doesn't have that and he still has the passion for the game, there's no reason that he can't break Wayne's record."