Brian Fluharty — USA TODAY Sports
Ovechkin Breaks Another All-Time Record, Passes Gretzky For Most Empty-Net Goals In NHL History
Another day, another milestone for Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, who broke one of Wayne Gretzky's all-time records on Saturday as he chases down his biggest one.
Ovechkin iced a 3-0 victory for his Capitals with an empty-netter in the final seconds of Saturday's game against the Boston Bruins, marking his 57th career empty-net goal, the most in NHL history. Gretzky had 56.
After serving a penalty, Ovechkin came out of the box and helped his team protect a 2-0 lead at 6-on-5. After Beck Malenstyn got the puck to him, Ovechkin chipped the puck off the boards to himself and raced up the ice before one-handing the puck into the empty net and making it 3-0.
The second half of the 2023-24 season has been a good one so far for the 38-year-old, who has goals in four straight games and is now up to 12 on the season after a slow start to the campaign. He appears to be finding his touch again and has 15 points in his last 14 outings overall.
Ovechkin's goal was also career goal No. 834, and he needs just 61 more goals to pass Wayne Gretzky for the most in NHL history.
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The empty-net goals record is one of the multiple records Ovechkin already owns in the goalscoring department. His 304 power-play goals are the most in NHL history, and he also has the most goals in NHL history while playing with just one franchise.
Ovechkin has also scored on every goal type in his career except one: a wraparound.
