Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin is closing in on being one of the most accomplished players in NHL history, and he took a notable step forward with two goals against the New York Rangers on Tuesday night.
With the 2024-25 season now in progress, Ovechkin is on the verge of becoming the NHL’s all-time goals leader. Ovechkin can pass Wayne Gretzky’s mark (894) during the 2024-25 regular season. The Capitals standout currently has 857 career goals, so he would need to rack up just 37 more goals this season in order to top Gretzky’s league record.
The 2023-24 campaign proved to be a mortal one for Ovechkin, who scored 31 goals last season. Ovechkin’s 31 goals was his lowest goal-scoring total since he netted 32 goals in the 2012-13 season. Ovechkin did have just 24 goals in 2020-21, but that season was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ovechkin scored 42 goals during the 2022-23 season, and has tallied at least 41 goals in 13 of his 19 NHL seasons.
Ovechkin currently has tallied 1,557 points (857 goals, 700 assists) in his professional career. He did make even more history in 2023-24 when he registered an NHL record 18th 30-goal season as he passed Mike Gartner (17) for the honor.
Ovechkin scored his third and fourth goals of the season in a 5-3 win against the Rangers on Oct. 29. That helped Ovechkin keep the pace he needs to catch Gretzky by the end of the regular season. Right now, Ovechkin is on pace for 41 goals, which is exactly what he needs to tie The Great One.
Ovechkin will likely continue to be an established force on the Capitals’ top power-play unit, so there will be plenty of goal-scoring opportunities. He will look to get off to a hotter start than he did in 2023-24 when he recorded just five goals over the first two months of the season.
CBS Sports will keep track of Ovechkin’s goals throughout the 2024-25 season and keep tabs on how close he is to eclipsing Gretzky’s all-time record.
