We don’t know whether this will be Alex Ovechkin’s final season as a Washington Capital or not, but there’s never a bad time to reflect back on two decades of being treated to this amazing talent. So each game day throughout the 2025-26 season, we’re going to be picking an Ovechkin moment to remember against that day’s opponent as we look back at an incredible career.
Goal #599 and 600 – March 12, 2018
Coming into this mid-March matchup with visiting Winnipeg, Alex Ovechkin sat just two goals shy of 600 for his career – but had been held without a goal for the last three games.
That mini scoring slump ended less than five minutes into the first period, when the Caps drew a five-on-three power play and Ovechkin opened the scoring – from Backstrom off the draw, to Carlson in the right circle, to Ovechkin in the left circle and past goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, the way we’ve seen it play out for years.
Almost 20 minutes later, early in the second period, he’d strike for #600…but it would look very different than #599, as he and linemates Evgeny Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson crashed the net until finally Ovechkin was able to tap it past a sprawling Hellebuyck:
Despite his very brief drought, there was a feeling around Ovechkin that this night would be The Night.
“[H]is wife, Nastya, returned from Moscow in time for the game Monday and told him she had a feeling he would get the milestone against the Jets. […] Capitals coach Barry Trotz said he also had a feeling Ovechkin would score No. 600 Monday.
‘This morning, he was really quiet,’ Trotz said. ‘He knew he was going to get it done today. The great thing about Ovi is when he puts something to it in his mind, he was going to get it done tonight. We were all talking as a coaching staff about it this morning. He’s getting it tonight. There’s no question.'”
Ovechkin scores 600th NHL goal for Capitals – NHL.com, 4/13/18
Buncha psychics we got around here…
Ovechkin became the 20th player in NHL history to score 600 goals – and by doing so in game #990, because just the fourth to do so before reaching his 1000th game, trailing only Wayne Gretzky (718), Mario Lemieux (719) and Brett Hull (900).