Wherever you go in the NHL realm, currently you might just hear Alexander Ovechkin’s name. Indeed, he has been on a roll, and so has the Washington Capitals, as they won their recent game against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center. In this victory of the Caps, the captain also contributed, securing a vital goal, closing in on Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record.

So where is he exactly now? Ovechkin is just 16 goals away after the game against the Flyers, and the Caps are doing everything possible for their captain to get that record during the current season. However, after this particular goal, a certain NHL journalist pointed out a unique statistic where Ovie was already way ahead of Gretzky.

Taking to X, Tom Gulitti revealed, stating, “This is Ovechkin’s 34th goal streak of at least four games, tying Mario Lemieux for the most in NHL history. The only other player with at least 30 is Wayne Gretzky (30).” Now, that’s something new that many NHL fans might not have heard about. Mario Lemieux was a legend during his time, and Alexander Ovechkin has already chased down another Canadian ice hockey icon in the current season.

Indeed, he’s on his 34th goal streak, considering he scored goals in a row in four games, which is just impressive for a forward of his age. This also shows how stellar of an ice hockey career he has had since his debut with the Caps, 20 seasons ago. However, it’s not only about Lemieux, but in this process, in the same record, he has already surpassed Gretzky for a long time.

But this particular goal against the Flyers didn’t come under easy circumstances or was an empty net goal like previously, which caused a bit of outrage in the community. So what was it like? At Wells Fargo Center, the Flyers were already starting to put a lot of pressure on the Caps. Eventually, the home team succeeded in their quest when Matvei Michkov scored with less than three minutes to go in the first period. 

However, this is when Ovechkin came in and secured not only an important goal for himself but also for his team. After getting the pass from Dylan Strome, Ovie was already locked in on the puck and shot it toward the left side of the Flyers’ goalie, scoring for the Caps. And this helped the team to gain a ton of confidence, as the second period started strong for the Russian NHL star’s team.

Even if the home team did make a comeback, the Caps’ Lars Eller and Jakob Chychrun turned the game in the third period, giving their team a 4-3 win at Wells Fargo Center. However, Ovechkin isn’t only chasing Gretzky’s all-time goal record at this point in his career, as a similar statistic was revealed a few days ago after the Caps game against the Panthers.

Alexander Ovechkin on another pursuit of greatness

Being a candidate that will challenge Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record was once just unimaginable. But after the Washington Capitals game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Alexander Ovechkin is now just 16 goals away from this record. He has been on a roll, and the fans are in awe of his stints on the ice.

Back during the game against the Florida Panthers, Ovie scored an empty net goal in the final seconds of the game and caused a lot of controversy. But that goal was his season’s 25th goal, and he has scored 25 or more in a single season for 19 seasons now, only missing it out during the 2020-21 season when the campaign was shortened due to COVID-19.

With this, Ovechkin is just a single season away from breaking Gordie Howe’s record, who has scored 25 or more goals in 20 seasons of his stellar career. Now, that’s just legendary, whatever the Caps’ captain is doing on the ice. The moment he breaks Gretzky’s all-time goal record in the current season, his fans will still have something to look forward to in his NHL career.