When Alex Ovechkin scored in the third period against goalie Igor Shesterkin in the Caps’ 4-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday night, it was his 709th career goal, passing Mike Gartner for seventh place on the all-time NHL goal scoring list. It made Shesterkin the 143rd goalie to be victimized by Ovechkin over the Great 8’s historic career. And it brings to mind, as it does every time Ovechkin climbs one more rung of the ladder, the elephant in the room – Wayne Gretzky. We will leave aside the question of whether Ovechkin can catch Gretzky for the all-time goal scoring lead. Let us take a quick look at some interesting facts about the victims of Ovechkin and Gretzky’s goal scoring prowess. For instance, did you know…
Of his 709 career goals, 73 of Ovechkin’s tallies have come at the expense of once and future teammates:
Alex Ovechkin’s most recent goal, on Thursday night, was accompanied by a lone assist, that from Nicklas Backstrom, who has assisted on so many of Ovechkin’s goals. Wayne Gretzky’s last goal, scored against the New York Islanders’ Wade Flaherty on March 29, 1999, was scored unassisted, which seems fitting for a goal scorer in a class by himself…for now.
One goalie against whom Ovechkin has not scored is Philadelphia’s Carter Hart. He might get to address that matter on Sunday.