GR800

Alexander Ovechkin scored the 800th goal of his career against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday (Dec. 25th). The Great 8 scored a hat trick to become only the third player in the history of the NHL to hit 800 goals, joining Wayne Gretzky (894) and Gordie Howe (801). 

Throughout his career, Ovechkin has played 1,305 games, 162 of which were multi-goal games. All of his games, however, were played with the Washington Capitals, making him the first player to ever score 800 goals with one franchise. The majority of Ovi’s goals have come at even strength (503), five have come short-handed, and he’s scored 292 on the powerplay, the most powerplay goals by a player in NHL History. Ovechkin is also leading the NHL in the most overtime goals (25), game-opening goals (136), game-tying goals (140), and go-ahead goals (270). Ovechkin has scored on 165 different goaltenders, some of which have taken to Twitter recently to say they’ve been scored on by one of the great players in the league. 

The team celebrated their captain’s record-breaking goal with beer showers and champagne baths. “It was great; I love beer,” he responded when asked what the celebration was like. 

The Great 8 says he’s not done yet. Ovechkin plays the Stars tonight to try and break Howe’s record, but the Capital’s captain is only 94 goals away from breaking Gretzky’s record, and that’s exactly what he plans to do. 

“My son ask me today, ‘Dad, how did you score three goals in Chicago?” “This my job,” Ovechkin told him.

Watch Ovechkin’s 800th goal here: https://youtu.be/wUTXK5YNFBU