NHL NEWS DECEMBER 14, 2022 – THE GREAT EIGHT SCORES HAT TRICK, WRITES HIS NAME ON RARE LIST WITH 800TH GOAL

It’s not often you see a standing ovation or hear the name of an opposing player chanted at a team’s arena, but that’s exactly what happened Tuesday night as Alex Ovechkin (3-1—4) scored a hat trick and became the third player in NHL history to reach 800 career goals, causing “Ovi! Ovi!” chants to echo through the stands at United Center.

• Ovechkin joins Wayne Gretzky (894) and Gordie Howe (801) in the 800-goal club.
• Ovechkin (162 GP) required the fewest games to go from goal No. 700 to goal No. 800. Gretzky skated in 231 games from Jan. 3, 1991 (700) to March 20, 1994 (800), while Howe played in 256 NHL contests – over the course of more than 11 years – from Dec. 4, 1968 (700) to Feb. 29, 1980 (800). Ovechkin averaged 0.62 goals-per-game from one milestone to the next, compared to 0.44 for Gretzky and 0.39 for Howe.
• Ovechkin has averaged at least 0.60 goals-per-game in his entire NHL career, since he turned 30 and over the course of his jump from 700 to 800 goals. Using that rate as a guide, The Great Eight is on track to overtake The Great One as the all-time goals leader in his next 158 games – or sometime within the first-third of the 2024-25 season. Ovechkin should pass Howe before Christmas.
• Ovechkin has scored in 46.4% of his appearances (605 of 1,305 GP). That includes 133 contests with exactly two goals, 25 with exactly three goals and four with exactly four goals – a total of 162 multi-goal performances (second-most in NHL history) and 29 hat tricks (sixth-most in NHL history). Since 2005-06, Ovechkin has 71 more multi-goal games than the next-closest player (Sidney Crosby: 91).
• Ovechkin’s hat trick came against Petr Mrazek, with the first of his two opening-frame goals coming just 24 seconds into the game. Mrazek is one of 165 different goaltenders that The Great Eight has scored against throughout his NHL career, while the Blackhawks are one of 24 franchises he has tallied against at least 14 times.

TUESDAY NIGHT WAS OVI NIGHT

While the night was dedicated to Alex Ovechkin’s historic achievement, there were a number of highlight-worthy performances inside Tuesday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates.

• Leon Draisaitl (21-30—51 in 30 GP) and Connor McDavid (26-33—59 in 30 GP) had five and four points, respectively, and became the fifth pair of teammates in NHL history each with at least 20 goals and 30 assists through 30 games in a season.
• Craig Anderson (40 saves) became the second NHL goaltender since 1955-56 (when shots on goal were officially tracked) with a 40-save shutout at age 41 or older, following Johnny Bower who did so twice (Nov. 1, 1967 & Jan. 13, 1966).
• Mitchell Marner (11-21—32 in 23 GP) of the Toronto Maple Leafs had two assists to extend his franchise-record point streak to 23 games and become the 12th different player in NHL history with a run of that length.

MILESTONE MARKERS: FROM 1 TO 800 (AND OTHERS IN BETWEEN)

A look at some of the major milestone goals in Alex Ovechkin’s career to date:

• Goal No. 1: On Oct. 5, 2005, Ovechkin beat Blue Jackets goaltender Pascal Leclaire at 7:21 of the second period for his first NHL goal. He added his second tally just 4:30 later to become the first player in Capitals history to score multiple times in his League debut.
• Goal No. 50: On April 13, 2006, Ovechkin scored his 50th NHL goal against Thrashers goaltender Mike Dunham to become the fourth rookie in NHL history to tally at least 50 times in one season. He finished with 52 goals in 2005-06, the third most in one season by a rookie, and remains the only active player to net 50 in his first campaign.
• Goal No. 100: On Oct. 12, 2007, Ovechkin scored his 100th NHL goal (167 GP) to become the 10th player in the League’s expansion era (since 1967-68) to reach the milestone in fewer than 170 career games. It was his first-ever goal at historic Madison Square Garden (5 GP) and fourth against Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist (whom he went on to beat a total of 24 times in 42 career regular-season meetings).
• Goal No. 163: On April 3, 2008, Ovechkin beat Lightning goaltender Karri Ramo for his 65th and final goal of the 2007-08 season – his highest total in one campaign to date. That came less than two weeks after he became the 19th different player in NHL history to score at least 60 times in one season (a feat accomplished by only two players since Ovechkin). That also helped him capture his first career Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy.
• Goal No. 200: On Feb. 5, 2009, Ovechkin netted his League-leading 37th goal of 2008-09 and 200th of his NHL career when he beat Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick in their first-ever meeting. The 23-year-old became the fourth player in NHL history to reach the 200-goal mark within his first four seasons, joining Wayne Gretzky, Mike Bossy and Mario Lemieux.
• Goal No. 300: On April 5, 2011, Ovechkin (25 years, 200 days) netted a tying goal in Toronto – beating James Reimer in their first head-to-head meeting – to become the sixth-youngest player in NHL history at the time of his 300th career tally. The only players to do so at a younger age were Wayne Gretzky (22 years, 321 days), Mario Lemieux (23 years, 179 days), Dale Hawerchuk (24 years, 308 days), Mike Bossy (25 years, 60 days) and Steve Yzerman (25 years, 176 days).
• Goal No. 400: On Dec. 20, 2013, Ovechkin scored into an empty net in Carolina for his 400th career goal in the third game of a four-game goal streak – the only “century mark” milestone goal on which Nicklas Backstrom recorded an assist. At the time, it was the 15th goal streak of four or more games in Ovechkin’s career – a number that has since increased to 28 and has been achieved by only two others in League history: Mario Lemieux (34x) and Wayne Gretzky (30x).
• Goal No. 473: On April 2, 2015, Ovechkin scored twice against Carey Price at Bell Centre in Montreal and overtook Peter Bondra as the Capitals’ all-time goals leader with his first tally of the night. At the time, he was one of three active players who held their franchise’s goals record – New Jersey’s Patrik Elias and San Jose’s Patrick Marleau were the others.
• Goal No. 500: On Jan. 10, 2016, playing in front of family and Capitals faithful at Verizon Center, Ovechkin became the fifth-fastest in NHL history to reach the 500-goal mark (801 GP) with his first of two tallies against Ottawa’s Andrew Hammond. It was his second multi-goal game in as many days, the fourth (and most recent) time he achieved that feat.
• Goal No. 600: On March 12, 2018, Ovechkin registered one of his eight multi-goal games of 2017-18 – hitting the milestone with his second tally against Connor Hellebuyck – as Washington edged Winnipeg in overtime. The fourth-fastest in NHL history to reach the 600-goal milestone, Ovechkin ended the season with four goals in his final three games to claim the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy with 49 goals. While the final game of the regular season saw him fall just shy of his eighth 50-goal season, his final playoff contest would see him hoist the Stanley Cup for the first time.
• Goal No. 700: On Feb. 22, 2020, Ovechkin became both the second-youngest and second-fastest player to join the NHL’s 700-goal club with his tally in New Jersey against Mackenzie Blackwood, joining seven others in the prestigious group. The only player to reach the 700-goal mark at a younger age or in fewer games than Ovechkin (age 34, 1,144 GP) was all-time goals leader Wayne Gretzky (age 29, 886 GP).
• Goal No. 787: On Nov. 5, 2022, Ovechkin scored against Coyotes netminder Karel Vejmelka to become the all-time goals leader for a single franchise by passing Gordie Howe (786 w/ DET) with his 787th career goal. Ovechkin had tied Howe two days earlier with goal No. 786 against none other than Howe’s former club, the Red Wings.
• Goal No. 800: On Dec. 13, 2022, Ovechkin opened the scoring just 24 seconds into the game, added a second first-period marker and completed the hat trick on Blackhawks goaltender Petr Mrazek to join Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe as the third player in NHL history to reach the 800-goal milestone.

WEDNESDAY FEATURES SPORTSNET, NHL ON TNT DOUBLEHEADERS

Wednesday’s slate features a pair of national doubleheaders, with Sportsnet carrying the Montreal Canadiens-Senators game and NHL on TNT showcasing the Red Wings-Wild contest before both networks cover the Canucks-Flames finale.