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.
Ovechkin Hits 1000 Points – January 11, 2017
The Capitals-Penguins rivalry really ignited when Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby hit the scene back in 2005, and the two phenoms have spent the better part of the last two decades trading big moments. On January 11, 2017, the Caps were hosting their rivals with Ovechkin sitting just one point shy of 1000 in his career.
It was only fitting that he got it that night – and he didn’t make fans wait very long. Just 35 seconds into the first period, his very first shift of the game, Ovechkin headed up ice on a two-on-one with Nicklas Backstrom and fired the puck past Marc-Andre Fleury, picking up #1000 in just about the most perfect way possible:
And in typical Ovechkin fashion, it wasn’t the end of his evening, as he added another goal en route to a Caps’ 5-2 win.
Ovechkin became the 84th player in NHL history to reach the milestone (and 24th fastest, in Game 880), and the sixth active player to do so (sixth active) to reach the milestone. The goals were his 545th and 546th, moving him past Maurice “Rocket” Richard – the man who gave his name to the trophy that no one has won more times than Ovechkin – to 29th on the all-time goals list, and marked his 12th-consecutive 20+ goal season, just the 16th player to achieve that feat.