Alexander Ovechkin second in history with his 802nd goal

Alexander Ovechkin scores 801^e and 802^e goals of his career and thus overtakes Gordie Howe as the second most NHL scorer

Alexander Ovechkin is on a mission. His race for the record continues and here he is now alone in second place among the top scorers in the history of the National Hockey League. After a “dearth” of four games, the Russian scored his 801^e and 802^e goals on Friday in a 4-1 win by the Washington Capitals over the Winnipeg Jets.

He thus overtook Gordie Howe and he is only 93 successes away from seizing the first rank held by Wayne Gretzky since March 1994. “I’m going one step at a time”, had all the same relativized the big striker last week.

The Caps captain’s historic goal came with 1:38 left in the first period. Ovechkin converted a wrist shot from the right circle, after catching a back pass from Dylan Strome. David Rittich was beaten between the pads.

The 802^e goal came about a minute from time, into an empty net, as his teammates gallantly gave him every chance to score. “I tried hard to put it back to [Evgeny] Kuznetsov, but he didn’t want it, ”defended Ovechkin. The players rose to their feet in celebration, then a video of Mark Howe, son of Gordie Howe, was presented on the giant screen. “We want to congratulate you on this achievement. Watching you play was a real pleasure. »

In a rather rare moment, the Jets players congratulated him at the end of the game. “It feels good to do it on home soil in front of family, friends and fans,” Ovechkin told the crowd. It’s big. He then thanked his family, including addressing them in Russian.

There were the “Ovie, Ovie” from his teammates, then Ovechkin posed in the locker room with his two children as well as the historic pucks. But how does he intend to celebrate this goal?

“I’m going to a bar. Hot dogs, nachos. Why not ? “, he launched, laughing at the journalists, before becoming more serious. “Thank you for the support. It’s history. Who will be the next to score 800 goals? I hope someone will. I’m lucky to stay healthy to score all these goals. I want to thank my teammates, my coaches for their trust. Without them, I would never have achieved these goals. »

defining moment

This is obviously a defining moment for “Ovie”, who has a certain admiration for Mr. Hockey, who died in 2016. The two men met at the 2009 All-Star Game in Montreal, and Ovechkin keeps this encounters a photo autographed by Howe. “It’s definitely my favorite object in my collection,” he said. There’s Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, sticks from Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux, but that’s probably my favorite thing. »

Ovechkin scored his first NHL goal on Oct. 5, 2005. In fact, the right-hander had scored a brace in his big league debut against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The number 8 had flashed the red light with a one-timer slapshot from the top of the circles. A way of doing things that has become his trademark. A ritual. A cannonball, a big smile, knee to the ground, one leg in the air, index finger pointing to the sky, sometimes propelling himself into the bay window, Ovechkin has become an immortal.

With his yellow laces and tinted visor, he was already promised a bright future when he was chosen first in the 2004 amateur draft.

A loyal supporter of the Washington Capitals, the 37-year-old has spent each of his 18 NHL seasons in that team’s uniform. He broke the 50-goal mark nine times and the 60-goal mark once in 2007-08. He was rewarded nine times with the Maurice-Richard trophy, given to the top scorer of the season.

Ovechkin signed a five-year contract extension in July 2021, which would theoretically allow him to overtake Marvel.

Its main victims

Ovechkin has made over 166 goalies look bad since the start of his career. With his lightning slap shot and exquisite hands, he scored in abundance, but some goalkeepers tasted it more often than others.

It was Marc-André Fleury who was most often beaten by Alex the Great. The Quebecer allowed him 25 goals during their clashes.

Fleury is closely followed by Henrik Lundqvist, with 24, then Carey Price and Kari Lehtonen, who missed the puck 22 times each.

Among his most memorable goals will be the time he scored his 50^e net of the season, March 19, 2009, against the Tampa Bay Lightning. After scoring, he put his stick on the ice to pretend his CCM was on fire.

However, his most significant goal will forever be that of January 16, 2006 against the Phoenix Coyotes. Ovechkin had grabbed the puck right on the center line, and at the height of the circles he had cut to the center by passing the disc under Paul Mara’s stick. The Russian had fallen on his back and pushed the puck, which was under him, behind his head, into the goal, as goaltender Brian Boucher had made an outing to try to intercept the prolific scorer. This goal is considered by many to be the most spectacular in hockey history.