Alex Ovechkin is the second fastest in NHL history to score 750 career goals

By Eduardo Razo
December 4, 2021 | 9:02 PM

Ovechkin reaches 750 career goals faster than Howe, Jagr originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

Alex Ovechkin continues to march towards Wayne Gretzky’s goal-scoring record, but the Washington Capitals forward is reminding everyone how great he’s been throughout his NHL career.

The 36-year-old scored his 750th career goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets, but as NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti pointed out, Ovechkin is making history while becoming hockey’s greatest goal scorer. The Caps captain is the second-fastest to reach 750 goals.

Ovechkin was faster than Gordie Howe and Jaromir Jagr in reaching the milestone. It took him 1,220 to score that amount of goals; meanwhile, Gretzky was the only one faster than Ovechkin, as the former Edmonton Oiler needed 1,001 games to reach 750.

Next on Ovechkin’s list of players to overtake is Jagr, who has 766 career goals. Permitting health, it seems that he’ll be overtaking third place at some point this season. However, at the pace that Ovechkin is trending, he could even flirt with catching Howe at 801.

Nonetheless, as the Caps captain proceeds scoring at this pace, chasing down Gretzky doesn’t seem all that wild to think, especially if he’s scoring goals at a better rate than the two players below Gretzky.

‘We’re chasing games:’ Capitals digging early holes with first-period struggles

By Matt Weyrich
November 21, 2022 | 5:36 PM

Caps digging early holes with first-period struggles originally appeared on NBC Sports WashingtonARLINGTON, Va. — The Capitals are tired of playing catch-up.Amid a slow start to the 2022-23 campaign, they’ve developed a habit of falling behind early in games. The Capitals have trailed first in 12 of their 20 games to date, ranking 31st in the NHL with only nine first-period goals. During their current four-game winless streak, they’ve been outscored in the opening frame by a combined score of 9-0.“It’s frustrating when you go down early,” head coach Peter Laviolette said at practice Sunday. “The two previous games, it’s frustrating when you go down early like that. Those were big holes to climb out of. I give our guys credit because we have spent a lot of energy but, like I said last night, I’ve been there before and it’s not a place where you want to be where you’re chasing games down two goals or down three goals.”Not much has broken the Capitals’ way early on this season; they lost a slew of skaters to injury during the first month before entering one of the toughest blocks of their schedule. Monday marked the first time the team went two consecutive days without a game since Oct. 25-26.But the results are the results. The Capitals sit seventh in the Metropolitan Division with 17 points toward the standings despite playing more games than anyone else in the division. They’re on pace to finish with 70 points, which would be their lowest total for a full, 82-game season since 2006-07.With their season already about a quarter of the way through, the Capitals understand they can’t afford to keep playing from behind.“The biggest thing is we’ve been chasing a lot of games,” Sheary said. “It feels like we’re down 1-0, 2-0 almost the last three or four games at least. But a lot of games we’re chasing the game. I think if we can get ahead and start to learn how to play with a lead and hold a lead, those are the little things I think will help us be successful moving forward.”The Capitals have had offensive success in the second and third periods, scoring 25 and 21 goals in those frames, respectively. Those periods have helped keep them in games, but first-period holes have proven almost insurmountable. The Capitals still have yet to win a game in which they trailed after the first with a record of 0-5-2 in such games.“What we’re doing right now is obviously is not good enough,” winger Anthony Mantha said. He added that he didn’t want them to get too caught up in the players they’re missing, saying, “We have enough talent in this room to win games. Unfortunately, we’re not doing it right now. It’s on who’s in the lineup to step up and to make a difference.”Washington has come out aggressively in recent games, trying to put opposing teams on their heels and control the puck by dictating the tempo. However, they’ve also made themselves more vulnerable to mistakes becoming costly ones. Sheary believes the key to getting off to better starts is disciplined hockey.“I think you just gotta simplify the game early on,” Sheary said. “If you’re high risk and giving up odd-man rushes and stuff like that. I think that gives teams opportunities to jump ahead. Discipline is a huge thing in the first period. We’ve given up a few power-play goals recently and so that’s a big thing. But overall, just simplify things and just bring good energy, do the little things right and things will start bouncing our way.”

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