Goal No. 801 was well worth the wait for Alex Ovechkin. And No. 802 was just icing on the cake.
Goalless for four games after scoring his 800th career goal last week, the Washington Capitals’ superstar scored twice in front of his home crowd Friday night, tying and then passing Gordie Howe for second on the NHL’s all-time list.
Ovechkin found the back of the net on a wrister with 1:38 remaining in the first period to tie Howe and then passed “Mr. Hockey” with an empty-netter with 1:00 left in the game. Ovechkin’s two goals led Washington to a 4-1 victory over the visiting Winnipeg Jets.
“You never thought it’s going to happen when you came into the league, you’re going to beat any Gordie Howe record or Wayne Gretzky record or any record,” Ovechkin said. “You felt like, OK, maybe you’re going to play in the NHL, you’re going to be good and you’re going to try to do your best, but the whole situation happening right now, it’s a miracle. You know, it’s pretty special.”
After each of Ovechkin’s goals, the sellout crowd at Capital One Arena erupted into ear-shattering cheers and “O-vi” chants. The game stopped for several minutes after No. 802 for the crowd to celebrate Ovechkin.
“I don’t want to say once in a lifetime, but moments like that in hockey rarely come up and you pause the game to honor somebody for such a special achievement,” Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said. “What he has been able to accomplish here in Washington is truly unbelievable. He got an opportunity on a night like tonight to just again pause the game and take a moment and just honor that moment of what happened is pretty special.”
Mark Howe, son of Gordie Howe, appeared on the video board with a pre-recorded congratulatory message for Ovechkin. After the game, all of Winnipeg’s players lined up to shake Ovechkin’s hands after the game.
“You’re everything that my mother and father would be very proud of, and I know if they were here today, they would be at this hockey game,” Mark Howe said. “They’d be the first ones to congratulate you. So, on behalf of the Howe family, we want to say congratulations and a job well done.”
Ovechkin, who surpassed Marcel Dionne, Brett Hull and Jaromir Jagr on the goals list last season, entered this year 21 behind Gordie Howe — one of the greatest players in NHL history during his illustrious 26-year career.
Ovechkin is now 92 goals behind Wayne Gretzky, who sits atop the mountain at 894.
“It was unbelievable,” said Capitals center Dylan Strome, who assisted Ovechkin’s first goal. “After the hat trick to get 800, it took a little while to get 801 and 802. It was special. To see the puck go in was just relief, I’m sure, from everyone. He’s got 93 more now to break the record.”
The 37-year-old winger is in the midst of another quintessential “Great 8” campaign — on pace to score 50 goals for the 10th time in his career. He now has 22 goals on the season.
Ovechkin started the season slow (by his standards), scoring at a 36-goal pace through the team’s first 20 games. But he then went on a heater, tallying 11 goals and six assists in an 11-game stretch (8-2-1 record for Washington). The highlight of the strong stretch was the hat trick he scored against Chicago last week — goals 798, 799 and 800 of his career.
Ovechkin’s strong play — along with improved goaltending and players returning from injuries — is a significant reason why Washington has gone from 7-10-3 and near the bottom of the Eastern Conference to occupants of the final wild card spot in just a month. The win Friday was the team’s fourth straight and ninth in its last 10 games.
How is Ovechkin going to celebrate passing Howe and another victory ahead of the NHL’s brief Christmas break?
“Going to a bar right now, hot dog, nachos, you know,” Ovechkin said. “Why not?”
Ovechkin’s first score kicked off the game’s scoring. On an odd-man rush, Strome dumped the puck back to Ovechkin, who had an open look at the cage and flicked a wrister past Winnipeg goalie David Rittich.
Rittich is the 166th goaltender Ovechkin has scored against in his 18-year career. In NHL history, only Jaromir Jagr (178) and Patrick Marleau (177) have scored on more goalies.
Tying and passing Howe against the Jets is fitting for Ovechkin. In 71 games against the Jets franchise, the Russian winger now has 52 goals — his most against any team in his career.
Sonny Milano put the Capitals up 2-0 in the second period with a goal just as Washington’s power play ended. The goal was the second in as many nights for Milano, who scored Thursday in the Capitals’ 3-2 overtime win over Ottawa.
Ovechkin was credited with a secondary assist on Milano’s goal — the veteran’s 19th assist of the season. The multi-point game was the 409th of his career to move into 12th all time.
Nic Dowd then scored off an assist from Garnet Hathaway early in the third period. The goal was Dowd’s third in the last three games, as the fourth-line center scored twice in 11 seconds in Washington’s victory over Detroit Monday.
Winnipeg’s Kevin Stenlund scored six minutes later for the Jets’ lone goal of the game. Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren — who went 7-1 with Darcy Kuemper sidelined with an injury earlier this month — tallied 25 saves after Kuemper made his return Thursday.
Ovechkin was visibly reluctant to score No. 802 on an empty-netter. His first attempt, which ricocheted off the crossbar, looked half-hearted. He then passed off his next chance to teammate Evgeny Kuznetsov, who immediately flicked the puck back to Ovechkin instead of taking a shot at the empty net.
“I think it’s nice that it happened in front of the home crowd,” Kuznetsov said. “You know, maybe it’s empty net, right? But at the same time I’m glad that it happened in our house and our fans deserve to be a part of that.”
While the score was an empty-netter, it was still in stylish fashion, as Ovechkin was barely even looking at the goal as he shot the puck.
“Like half of his goals, right?” Kuznetsov joked.
Despite the win and Ovechkin’s milestone, a scary moment in the third period did dampen the mood slightly as defenseman John Carlson took a puck to the face and was bleeding profusely on the ice. He left the game and went to the locker room.
Laviolette said after the game that Carlson was transported to a hospital for” precautionary evaluation.”
“It is tough Carly wasn’t there tonight,” Laviolette said. “He sits right next to Ovi, such a loud, vocal piece inside of the locker room.”
The NHL is off this weekend for Christmas, so Ovechkin’s chase of Gretzky begins Tuesday at the New York Rangers.