Alex Ovechkin is getting closer and closer to history.
The Washington Capitals hammered the Edmonton Oilers by a score of 7-3 on Sunday afternoon and the Great Eight led the way with a hat trick in the win.
The goals were the 27th, 28th, and 29th of Ovechkin’s season and the 880th, 881st, and 882nd of his NHL career. The Russian sniper is now only 13 goals away from passing Wayne Gretzky for the most in league history.
HAT TRICK, ALEXANDER OVECHKIN! 🎩
Career goal number 882—just thirteen away! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/IFEjoy5A65
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 23, 2025
Despite coming into the season at 39 years of age, Ovechkin is scoring at his highest clip in well over a decade.
His 29 goals have come in 41 games, good for an average of 0.71 goals per game. That’s a 58-goal pace over an 82-game season, which would be the second-highest total of Ovechkin’s career, second only to his Hart Trophy-winning 65-goal campaign in 2007-08.
If not for missing multiple weeks with a broken leg suffered back in November, Ovechkin could be challenging Leon Draisaitl in the Rocket Richard Trophy race. The German pivot is leading the league with 41 goals, well clear of second-place William Nylander, who has 33 goals on the year.
Despite the injury, Ovechkin is on pace to break Gretzky’s all-time goal record this season. The Great One finished his career in 1999 with 894 goals. The Great Eight needs 13 more goals to match the record and the Capitals have 25 games left on their schedule.
Gretzky’s goal record has been held since March of 1994 when he scored his 802nd goal to pass Gordie Howe on the all-time list. Ovechkin joined Gretzky and Howe as the only players ever to reach the 800-goal mark in the NHL and he could become the first player ever to reach 900 goals in league history.
In two games back from the 4 Nations Face-Off break, the Capitals have racked up 15 goals in wins over the Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers. They’ll host the Calgary Flames on Tuesday as they continue a five-game homestand.
