Capitals Celebrate Alex Ovechkin’s 800th Career Goal

You would be hard pressed to write a better script for reaching such a lofty professional milestone. Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin scored his 18th, 19th and 20th goals of the season – his 798th, 799th and 800th goals of his NHL career – Tuesday night against the Blackhawks in Chicago. He becomes just the third player in NHL history to reach the 800-goal mark, joining Hall of Famers Gordie Howe (801) and Wayne Gretzky (894).

Ovechkin’s third goal of the night and 800th goal of his NHL career came in the third period of Tuesday night’s 7-3 victory over the Blackhawks at the United Center. He would be mobbed by his teammates and receive “Ovi, Ovi” cheers from the folks at United Center.

Ovechkin conducted a few interviews following the game while his teammates headed to the locker room and loaded up for the impending celebration. Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson also made their way down from the press box in time for Ovechkin’s entrance into the room.

THE VIBES ARE #GR8, BABES pic.twitter.com/RfN3hDYOAe

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 14, 2022

Ovechkin is now two goals shy of passing Howe (801) for second on the NHL’s all-time goals list. Ovechkin scored his 787th career goal on Nov. 5 versus Arizona, passing Howe (786) for the most goals with one franchise in NHL history and scored his 122nd career game-winning goal on Oct. 24 at New Jersey to pass Howe for the second-most game-winning goals.

Ovechkin was the obvious choice for the team’s player of the game award following the team’s 7-3 win over the Blackhawks.

???? “SPEECH”#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/edBVkD97BL

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 14, 2022

Ovechkin reached the 800-goal mark in his 1,305th career game, the second-fewest games required to reach the milestone in NHL history (Gretzky: 1,116 GP). Howe scored his 800th career goal in his 1,748th career game at the age of 51.

Ovechkin went from 700 to 800 goals in 162 games, the fewest games required to make that leap for any member of the 800-goal club (Gretzky: 231 GP; Howe: 256 GP).

Ovechkin, who has scored 20 goals in 31 games this season, recorded his 29th career hat trick against Chicago to reach the 800-goal mark, passing Marcel Dionne and Bobby Hull (28) for the sixth most hat tricks in NHL history. Ovechkin has reached the 20-goal mark in each of his 18 NHL seasons and his 18 20-goal seasons are the sixth-most in NHL history.

Ovechkin is on pace to score 52 goals this season. Should Ovechkin reach the 50-goal mark, it would mark his 10th career 50-goal season, passing Gretzky and Mike Bossy (9) for the most in NHL history. In addition, Ovechkin would pass Gretzky (12) for the most 40-goal seasons in NHL history and tie Mike Gartner (17) for the most 30-goal seasons in NHL history.

????#Gr800 pic.twitter.com/N7dT1bi0mr

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 14, 2022

The Capitals now head home for a three-game home stand, a home stand that could be historic. They host the Dallas Stars on Thursday, the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday and the Detroit Red Wings in Monday.

By Jon Sorensen