The Washington Capitals will hold a ceremony on Tuesday to recognize that Alexander Ovechkin has overtaken Gordie Howe as the second-highest scorer in National Hockey League (NHL) history, and the Russian can celebrate his accomplishment with his family.
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Russian sniper Tatyana’s mother has been in the United States since the death of her husband and Ovechkin’s father. The captain of the “Caps” is delighted to be able to spend time with her.
“It’s great,” said the man whose comments were reported by the NHL website. She likes spending time here, time with us. It’s been a while.”
“Every day is an important day for us,” Ovechkin said. We stick together and try to do everything possible to be together and help each other.”
In February, the 37-year-old veteran returned to Russia to accompany his father in his final moments. He missed four home games.
“The support I’ve received has been incredible,” Ovechkin said. They were tough days, but the team helped me a lot.”
Going back to the ceremony that will take place before the matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Capital One Arena, the Capitals will celebrate when their player scored his 801st and 802nd career goals.
Ovechkin hit that milestone Dec. 23 in a game against the Winnipeg Jets. He thus preceded the legendary Gordie Howe whose son Mark will be at the ceremony.
“It’s a very special moment and just scoring 800 NHL goals is something special,” Ovechkin said. It was a huge honor to reach this plateau and I have to move forward.
A record within reach
Since then, “Ovi” has increased his counter to 819 career goals. He is therefore 75 goals away from Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894 goals.
Ovechkin is still a few seasons away from possibly joining and overtaking the famous No. 99, but he’s only one goal away from breaking another of his records.
Currently, he has amassed 39 goals in 2022-23. He could and should therefore reach the 40-goal plateau in a season for the 13th time, which has never been done in NHL history.
Asked about it, Ovechkin said he doesn’t think about it too much and is focused on helping his team win games.
“We have to take it one game at a time,” he said. We remain hopeful, we just have to do our job.”
Heading into Tuesday night’s matchup, the Capitals trailed the Florida Panthers by six points, the team that is last among the teams drafted for the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.
If ever the Washington club fails to right the boat, the “Caps” will miss the playoffs for the first time since the 2013-2014 campaign.