Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin is just 42 goals away from breaking Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record for most career goals.
However, the 38-year-old Russian believes he would have already surpassed Gretzky’s record if not for the 155 games he missed due to two NHL lockouts (2004-05, 2012-13) and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
“If there had been no lockout and no pandemic, I think Gretzky’s record would have been broken by now,” Ovechkin recently said on “Podcasts with Amiran Sardarov.” “But unfortunately, such moments happen.”
Ovechkin may have a valid point.
He’s averaged 0.59 goals per game over his 1,426 NHL games. At that pace, he would have scored an additional 92 goals during the 155 games he missed, meaning he not only would have surpassed Gretzky by now, but he also would have been the first player in NHL history to reach the 900-goal mark.
In his 19 seasons, Ovechkin has scored 30 or more goals in 18 of them, with the exception being the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season where the NHL played a 56-game schedule. He scored 24 goals that year.
Ovechkin, Gretzky, and Hall of Famer Gordie Howe are the only players to have scored 800 or more goals in their careers.
If Ovechkin breaks Gretzky’s goal-scoring record, there will be little left for him to prove in the NHL.
His resume, which includes 13 All-Star appearances, nine Rocket Richard Trophies (NHL’s top goal scorer), three Hart Memorial Trophies (NHL MVP), an Art Ross Trophy (NHL’s leading scorer), a Calder Trophy (NHL’s top rookie), a Conn Smythe Award (playoff MVP), and a Stanley Cup championship, already places him among the greatest to ever play the game.
