No player in NHL history has tallied more 50-goal seasons in his career than Alex Ovechkin.
The Capitals star scored twice in Washington’s 4-3 overtime loss to Vegas on Wednesday, bringing his season total to 50 for the ninth time in his illustrious career. Ovechkin is now tied with Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky for most 50-goal seasons.
“Obviously, it’s pretty good company,” Ovechkin said. “I’m pretty happy. When you score the first one, you just feel pretty good about the game. Our line today felt good. We have pretty good chances. It’s one of the nights you’re feeling it.”
While Ovechkin’s second goal was the more significant milestone, he set another record with his first tally. When the 36-year-old flicked a wrister past the Golden Knights goaltender in the second period, the 49th goal set the single-season record for most scores in an NHL season by a player 36 or older.
NUMBER FORTY-NINE!!!
— NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) April 21, 2022
ALEX OVECHKIN IS ONE GOAL AWAY FROM EVEN MORE HISTORY! #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/h1BYme4z4u
His 50th career goal came later in the third period to tie the game. The Great 8, who already passed Marcel Dionne, Brett Hull and Jaromir Jagr on the NHL’s all-time goals list this season, now has 780 career scores — 21 behind Gordie Howe and 114 behind Gretzky.
THE GOAL THAT MADE HISTORY:
— NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) April 21, 2022
ALEX OVECHKIN TIES WAYNE GRETZKY AND MIKE BOSSY FOR THE @NHL RECORD WITH 9️⃣ 50-GOAL SEASONS!!!!! #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/epekIGW05r
The number 50 is a fair representation of what this season has been for Ovechkin — a resurgence.
He started the season blistering hot, scoring like his peak and assisting at a career-best rate. He slowed down in recent months, mostly falling out of the Hart Trophy consideration, but his season-long numbers now show this may be Ovechkin’s most prolific campaign in more than a decade.
With the performance Wednesday night, Ovechkin now has 90 points on the season — 50 goals and 40 assists. The last time the Russian superstar tallied 90-plus points in a year was 2009-10, the third straight year he had accomplished that feat and his age-24 season. With five games remaining, the 40 assists are his most since 2010-11, while the last time he scored 50 goals was 2018-19.
“I mean, how good is Ovechkin?” Vegas head coach Peter DeBoer said. “It’s unbelievable. Two tonight, and he could’ve had another two. He looks like he’s 25 years old out there. He’s so dangerous, and as soon as they got behind by one, he started really looking for those openings behind us, and he found it a couple times.”
While the season has been Ovechkin’s best in quite some time, it hasn’t all been easy. Since the war in Ukraine, Ovechkin has been under fire for his past support for Russian President Vladimir Putin — from calls for the NHL to suspend him to fans in Western Canada loudly booing him to being dropped by sponsors.
With the loss to Vegas, the Capitals are now 43-23-11 with a handful of games remaining.
The point from the overtime loss bumped them up to 97 on the season — tied with the Penguins, who currently is in third place in the Eastern Conference’s Metropolitan Division, and two behind the Rangers, who own the first wild card spot ahead of Washington.
• Jacob Calvin Meyer can be reached at jmeyer@washingtontimes.com.
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