Ovechkin scored 850 goals for one NHL club! Gretzky couldn’t even do that

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On April 6th, Alexander Ovechkin scored his 28th and 29th goals of this NHL regular season, bringing his total to 851. This brought the legendary hockey player closer to Wayne Gretzky’s record. However, by another criterion, Ovechkin has already surpassed Gretzky. Install the Mostbet online app, and you can place bets on hockey and other sports.

The captain of the Washington Capitals became the second player in league history to surpass the 850-goal mark

Alexander became the first hockey player to score 850 goals for a single club. Of his 894 goals, Wayne Gretzky scored 583 for Edmonton, 246 for Los Angeles, 57 for the Rangers, and eight for St. Louis. Alexander Ovechkin became the record holder for this metric back in November 2022 when he scored his 787th goal against Arizona, surpassing Gordie Howe’s tally for goals scored for a single club.

Here are the players who are not far behind Ovechkin in this regard:

1. Alexander Ovechkin* – Washington – 851 goals
2. Gordie Howe – Detroit – 786 goals
3. Steve Yzerman – Detroit – 692 goals
4. Mario Lemieux – Pittsburgh – 690 goals
5. Joe Sakic – Quebec/Colorado – 625 goals
6. Bobby Hull – Chicago – 604 goals
7. Sidney Crosby* – Pittsburgh – 590 goals
8. Wayne Gretzky – Edmonton – 583 goals
9. Mike Bossy – Islanders – 573 goals
10. Mike Modano – Minnesota/Dallas – 557 goals

In this list, many of the greatest snipers in NHL history are missing. For example, Jaromir Jagr, who ranks fourth overall, scored his best result for one club – 439 goals for Pittsburgh, and next is Brett Hull with 527 for St. Louis; seventh is Phil Esposito, who scored 459 out of 717 goals for Boston, eighth is Mike Gartner with 397 goals for Washington, and ninth is Mark Messier with 392 goals for Edmonton. Apart from Alexander Ovechkin, among the active players here, we can see Sidney Crosby and Steven Stamkos, who undoubtedly will climb higher on this list.

The record was achieved in a disappointing match: Washington couldn’t hold onto the lead, despite being ahead 2-0

“Carolina” spoiled the anniversary for the captain of the “Capitals” and didn’t allow the “Capitals” back into the playoff zone. “Washington” significantly diminished its chances of making the playoffs by losing four games in a row – losses to “Toronto” and “Boston” could be attributed to the high caliber of the opponents, but explaining what happened to the “Capitals” in games against “Buffalo” and “Pittsburgh” is much harder. This stretch led to the “Capitals” falling out of the playoff zone. However, the team still had a game in hand relative to the closest competitors in the Metropolitan Division – “The Islanders,” “Pittsburgh,” and “Philadelphia.” Just four minutes into the game, Ovechkin opened the scoring, quickly finding the net after a series of rebounds off Petr Kotchetkov’s goalposts. This is how Alexander scored his 850th goal in the NHL. As it is known, only one player in the history of the league has reached this milestone before.

Will Ovechkin be able to break Wayne Gretzky’s record?

The question of whether Ovechkin can break Wayne Gretzky’s record is quite complex. Currently, Ovechkin has 851 goals in 1420 regular-season games, placing him second on the list of NHL’s all-time top scorers, only behind Wayne Gretzky (894 goals in 1487 games). In 73 games of the current season, Ovechkin has scored 62 points (29 goals + 33 assists).

However, it’s difficult to say whether Ovechkin can surpass Gretzky in the total number of goals scored. Gretzky retired at the age of 38, which aligns with Ovechkin’s current age. However, Gretzky had more time in the NHL, starting his career at 18, whereas Ovechkin debuted in the NHL at 20. Ovechkin still has some time left, as his current contract expires after the 2025-2026 season.

Nevertheless, even within one season, Ovechkin could potentially surpass Gretzky, given his past achievements of scoring close to fifty goals in over ten seasons. Thus, he’s not far off from breaking that record.

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