The rookie forward races into the Phoenix zone and is dragged down by Coyotes defenseman
Paul Mara
. But as Ovechkin slides on his back in the left circle, he reaches out one-handed and hooks the puck past goalie
Brian Boucher
.
"The best goal I ever scored," Ovechkin says after his second of the game and 32nd of the season. "I just went down and shot."
MORE MOMENTS
1934:
Ken Doraty
scores the only
overtime hat trick
in NHL history, giving the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs a 7-4 victory against the Ottawa Senators. Prior to being suspended after World War II breaks out, overtime is a mandatory 10-minute period, rather than the five-minute, sudden-death format adopted when it's restored in 1983.
1960:
Gordie Howe
passes longtime rival
Maurice Richard
to become the NHL's all-time scoring leader with a second-period assist and a third-period goal in the Detroit Red Wings'
3-1 victory
against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks. Howe sets up a second-period goal by longtime linemate
Alex Delvecchio
, then scores a power-play goal early in the third period to finish the night with 947 points in 888 NHL games. By the time he plays his last NHL game on April 6, 1980, Howe has 801 goals and 1,850 points. Those records stand until
Wayne Gretzky
comes along later in the 1980s.