This Day In Capitals History: Ovechkin Hits 700 Goals Vs. Devils

On this day two years ago, with the pandemic not yet hitting North America, the Washington Capitals saw Alex Ovechkin write more history and further cement his legacy as one of the NHL’s greatest goal-scorers of all time.

Just 4:50 minutes into the third period of a tilt between the Capitals and New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center, Evgeny Kuznetsov found Ovechkin for a one-timer in front. That shot beat Mackenzie Blackwood, giving Ovechkin his 700th career NHL goal. It was also his 42nd goal of the 2019-20 campaign.

After that tally, the Capitals left the bench to embrace Ovechkin, congratulating him on a milestone that’d been a long time coming.

Alex Ovechkin joins elite company as the 8th player in NHL history to score 700 goals

(via @Capitals) pic.twitter.com/SNiwBegsi9

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 22, 2020

Since then, 106 regular-season games have passed amid a global pandemic, and Ovechkin has added 61 more goals to his resume. He has gone from becoming the eighth NHLer to hit the 700-mark to passing Brett Hull for fourth on the NHL’s all-time goals list early on in 2021-22. Ovechkin is currently six goals shy of passing Jaromir Jagr for third all-time.

The Capitals captain has also kept the momentum going. At age 36, he still ranks as one of the NHL’s scoring leaders in both tallies and points, with 31 and 62 respectively through 50 games so far this season. He is the only player in the history of the league to put up 16 30-plus goal seasons with one team and has the second-most 30-goal campaigns of all time, just one behind Mike Gartner.

“I just try to do my job,” Ovechkin said this season with regard to hitting multiple milestones.

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Not only that, but Ovechkin recently passed Marcel Dionne for the fourth-most even-strength goals in NHL history. He also broke the NHL’s all-time power-play goals record on Dec. 31 with a PPG against the Detroit Red Wings.