NHL Odds: Will Alex Ovechkin break goal-scoring record this season?
We’re officially on NHL history watch after Washington Capitals sniper Alex Ovechkin scored his 891st career regular season goal on Tuesday. Ovechkin is three goals away from matching Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record and four away from breaking it.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and other league personnel will travel for every Washington game for the remainder of the season and Gretzky is also expected to be in attendance whenever the historic record is finally broken.
So, how and when will Ovechkin set a new goal record? Let’s dive in.
Don’t expect a shorty
Ovechkin is already the greatest goal scorer of all-time, but he won’t officially get the title until he finds the back of the net four more times.
If Ovi sets the record with a special teams goal, don’t count on it coming short-handed. Ovechkin has just five career short-handed goals, three of which came in his rookie season in 2005-06. In fact, in the last 16 seasons, he’s tickled the twine short-handed just once.
Even strength is obviously the favourite for Ovechkin. He has scored 28 of 38 goals this season at even strength and his 564 career even strength goals actually matches Mats Sundin total career goal tally and it’s two short of Mike Bossy’s total career mark.
This is a special record, however, so I’m banking on it coming in a special way. In my mind, nothing would be more fitting than Ovi breaking the record by ripping home a one-timer on the power play. Ovechkin’s 322 career power play goals is 48 more than the next closest player (Dave Andreychuk) in NHL history and at 39-years-old, the Capitals prioritize his ice time to focus on power play minutes.
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Ovechkin has four career games with four or more goals scored, so it’s not unrealistic to think he could break the record Wednesday night in Carolina. You know Bettman and Gretzky wouldn’t be travelling with the team unless they thought the record could be broken. I’m not counting on a four-goal outburst from Ovi, however, so I’m staying away from the Hurricanes.
It would be fitting if Ovechkin broke the record against longtime rival Sidney Crosby and the Penguins. Washington visits Pittsburgh for the final game of the regular season, so the drama would be intense. But, that’s eight games away. The Capitals have some non-playoff opponents coming up that Ovechkin should be able to exploit. I think he breaks the record before he faces Sid.
Putting on my nerd hat, Ovechkin is scoring at 0.66 goals per game this season. That pace has him breaking the record in three more games, which would be Sunday afternoon on Long Island. He has 44 goals in 71 career games against the Islanders and I could see him lighting up Chicago for two or three on Friday then breaking the record against New York on Sunday.
