Alex Ovechkin Reaches 1,600 Points, Nine Goals Away From Breaking Gretzky’s Goal Record

On Sunday, Washington Capitals left winger Alex Ovechkin made history yet again, scoring an empty net goal in a 4-2 victory over Seattle and securing his 1,600th career point in the process. And with this goal, he gets even closer to Wayne Gretzky’s goal record. Ovechkin is now only nine goals away from statistically becoming the best goal scorer in NHL history.

Late in the third on Sunday, the Kraken were pushing to find the equalizer with the extra attacker on the ice. However, center Nic Dowd and right winger Tom Wilson linked up for a great effort to clear the puck out of Washington’s zone.

Just beyond the blue line was Ovechkin, waiting for the puck to fall to his stick. Wilson lightly chipped the puck along the boards and without looking at the net, The Great Eight backhanded the puck into the net from the neutral zone.

The Capitals went on to win the game, earning their 42nd victory of the campaign. They are now even on points with the league-leading Winnipeg Jets with 92 points.

Ovechkin became the 11th player in NHL history to ever reach the 1,600-point mark and has done so playing 1474 games across 20 seasons.

Next up on the all-time point list is Joe Sakic, with 1,641 points. Earlier this season, Sakic was surpassed by Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby. And speaking of Crosby, he and Ovechkin are the only active NHL players to have 1,600 points to their name.

Just behind the two generational players, is Crosby’s teammate Evgeni Malkin, who has 1,338 points in his career.

Furthermore, Washington’s captain is seventh all-time in player scoring with one franchise.

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