Alex Ovechkin (Peter Casey-Imagn Images)Alex Ovechkin is nearly the NHL’s top goal-scorer ever – and the likelihood he cements that status against Sidney Crosby continues to grow.
Ovechkin is seven goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record. He scored again on Thursday night against the Philadelphia Flyers. After that, Washington has 13 games left in the regular season.
The big question is when he will break the record and who he will score against.
Ovechkin’s best odds to score his 895th goal is in the last four games of the season, according to Canada Sports Betting (CSB).
The Capitals play against the Columbus Blue Jackets twice, as well as the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins in those final four outings ahead of the post-season.
CSB says Ovechkin has a 71-percent chance of snapping the record in the final game of the season against his longtime rival, Crosby and the Penguins. In all fairness, there is something poetic about resetting the all-time goal record with two of the best players of the last generation sharing the ice.
On a broader scale, Ovechkin will have to go through some elite goaltenders to build up his tally before the end of the regular season. The Winnipeg Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck, Florida Panthers' Sergei Bobrovsky and Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin are some of the goaltenders he may face along the way.
Ovechkin’s scored on Bobrovsky 16 times in his career and 12 times on Vasilevskiy. Only Marc-Andre Fleury’s allowed more goals to Ovechkin among active netminders, with 28.
In 53 games this season with Washington, Ovechkin has 35 goals and 57 points. He’s tied for fifth in the NHL in goals with Buffalo Sabres right winger Tage Thompson and Boston Bruins right winger David Pastrnak.
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