Ovechkin is 16 goals away from breaking Gretzky’s record.
As Alex Ovechkin continues his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky's NHL goals record, former New York Islanders defenseman Darius Kasparaitis is helping him stay fresh. In a Telegram post on Friday, Ovechkin posted a photo of the two working out in Miami during the league's 4 Nations Faceoff break.
"During this break, I will be training with my good friend and NHL star, Darius Kasparaitis," he said in the post. "We have already started training together. Thanks to Kasper for your help!”
The two were working out of Friday at Adapt, a gym in North Miami, with the two even being featured doing situps on their Instagram story.
Kasparaitis, a 14-year NHL vet, spent five seasons with the Islanders from 1992-93 through 1996-97. In 232 games, he totaled six goals and 40 assists for 46 points, while racking up 439 penalty minutes. Across 863 career games, he recorded 27 goals and 136 assists for 163 points in addition to 1,379 penalty minutes.
Ovechkin entered the break with 879 red lights in his career, just 15 short of tying Gretzky's spot in the record books. With 37 games to go, it will make for a captivating storyline at the end of the season to see if he can break it this year and if he and Kasparaitis' training will pay off.
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