Ovechkin closing in on Andreychuk's power-play goals record

WASHINGTON --Alex Ovechkin's prolific power-play production has him on the verge of NHL history.

The Washington Capitals forward has scored 273 power-play goals, one shy of tying the record held by Dave Andreychuk going into the game at the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday (1 p.m. ET; SN, BSSO, NBCSWA, NHL LIVE).
"It's going to be a very interesting moment for me and, I think, for the League just to get this (record) and be No. 1," Ovechkin said.
Ovechkin's chase of Wayne Gretzky's NHL record of 894 goals has gotten more attention this season. The Capitals captain scored 18 goals in the first 21 games to increase his total to 748 and climb past Marcel Dionne (731) and Brett Hull (741) into fourth in NHL history.
Ovechkin is 147 goals from passing Gretzky and has often warned, "Let's don't look too far."
Andreychuk's record is directly in Ovechkin's sights after he scored No. 273 with his fourth power-play goal of the season at 2:50 of the second period in a 4-3 win against the Florida Panthers on Friday. It was the first of three goals for his 28th NHL hat trick.
If not for the coronavirus pandemic, which ended the 2019-20 regular season when the Capitals had 13 games left and shortened last season to 56 games, Ovechkin likely would have passed Andreychuk already.
Andreychuk, who retired in 2006 after 23 NHL seasons, said he has been expecting it for a while.
"I know the consistency in his game," Andreychuk said. "We know that's a big part of who he is, is that power play. If he continued to stay healthy, and wanted to play, he was eventually going to go by me."

Ovechkin has led the NHL in power-play goals six times during his first 16 seasons with Washington, including a run of five straight from 2012-13 through 2016-17. Ovechkin scored 13 power-play goals in 68 games in 2019-20 and nine in 45 games last season, but in the six seasons prior, the 36-year-old averaged 20 power-play goals, including an NHL career-high 25 in 2014-15.
Missing forwards
Nicklas Backstrom
, who hasn't played because of a hip injury, and
T.J Oshie
, who has been limited to eight games because of a lower-body injury, the Capitals power play started slowly this season, scoring at 18.0 percent (20th in the NHL) through 20 games compared to 24.8 percent (third) last season.
For the majority of the past seven seasons, Washington had the same five players working within its 1-3-1 power-play system: Ovechkin in the left face-off circle, defenseman John Carlson at the point, Backstrom on the right half-wall, Oshie in the bumper position in the slot, and forward Evgeny Kuznetsov to the right of the net.
Ovechkin points to that familiarity as the biggest reason for his power-play consistency.
"We basically know exactly what we have to do out there," he said. "When we move the puck right, when we're doing right away good things, it always happens."
Andreychuk didn't have the same personnel around him for long during a well-traveled career that included the Buffalo Sabres, Toronto Maple Leafs, New Jersey Devils, Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning, though he did play with high-end talent including Alexander Mogilny and Pat LaFontaine with the Sabres, and Doug Gilmour and Wendel Clark with the Maple Leafs.
Andreychuk led the NHL with 28 power-play goals in 80 games with Buffalo in 1991-92 and scored an NHL career-high 32 in 83 games with the Sabres and Maple Leafs in 1992-93, two shy of Tim Kerr's single-season record of 34 set with the Philadelphia Flyers in 1985-86.
"I got good players to shoot at me. I got good players to pass to me," Andreychuk said. "Similar to 'Ovi,' right?"
Although Ovechkin and Andreychuk have a talented supporting cast in common, they otherwise followed much different paths to the top of the power-play goals list.
Ovechkin has thrived from his spot in the left circle. NHL.com charted each of Ovechkin's 273 power-play goals, and 110 (40.3 percent) have been scored on one-timers from the left circle or above.
Conversely, Andreychuk played mostly in an era when power plays relied heavily on players stationed in front of the net. Andreychuk made his living there, scoring on deflections and rebounds.
"I think I got one one-timer in my career out of the 600-and-something goals," said Andreychuk, who is 15th in NHL history with 640 total goals. "So yeah, totally different. Opposites, right? … It was a different game. It was a different style. I was primarily 6 feet in front of the net."
Andreychuk's final season in 2005-06 was also Ovechkin's rookie season, but Ovechkin recalls little about facing Andreychuk other than, "I remember he was a big guy."
Andreychuk used his 6-foot-4, 225-pound pound frame to help ward off aggressive defenders trying to clear him from the net front. Having deft and quick hands to redirect shots and get to loose pucks also helped.
"It was different hockey back then," Ovechkin said. "I played in Russia for Dynamo (Moscow in the Kontinenal Hockey League before coming to the NHL) and it was different hockey, so I know how it was. … So obviously, when you have that kind of a big body, you have to use it."
Ovechkin also has a big body (6-3, 238) and sometimes uses it to get to the front of the net. He's scored twice on deflections this season, and two of his three power-play goals have come off rebounds.
But Ovechkin's one-timer remains his most feared weapon. In fact, the evolution of power plays during his career has put a greater emphasis on it.
Since the start of the 2012-13 season, when then-Capitals coach Adam Oates implemented the now-common 1-3-1 alignment that features the one-timer from the circle as one of its main components, Ovechkin has scored 89 of his 162 power-play goals (54.9 percent) on one-timers from the left circle or above.
Andreychuk, now the Lightning's vice president of corporate and community affairs, sees a current comparable in Tampa Bay forward Steven Stamkos, who also plays in the left circle on the power play, and a past one in Hull.
Although Hull played before the 1-3-1, he also relied on a one-timer that helped him score 265 power-play goals, third in NHL history, before he retired in 2005.
"There's guys that were similar," Andreychuk said. "But you know, let's face it, [Ovechkin is] at the top of the class."
Despite identifying more with Hull because of their one-timers, Ovechkin noted again, "Back then, hockey was different, the system was different. The goalies were different. So it's hard for me to compare."
Hull doesn't like comparing either or attributing Ovechkin's power-play production solely to his one-timer.
"If the puck goes in the net, it's a goal whether it's that beautiful one-timer or a guy going through the whole team, like Denis Savard or Patrick Kane," Hull said. "A goal is a goal, and to be able to do it as often has he has, that's the great thing."