The 2024-25 NHL season has seen a lot of terrific performances, as it’s one of the most competitive campaigns ever in the league’s history. In addition to the team games in the campaign, a few players have caught the community’s attention. Indeed, I’m talking about no other than Alexander Ovechkin, who is currently chasing Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record, which is 894.

Indeed, following the Washington Capitals’ match against the Seattle Kraken on January 23, the Russian NHL star has taken a significant step towards surpassing the Great One’s record. And while many of his fans are excited to see him break and go beyond that 894-mark, the fans of Gretzky weren’t pleased with the way Ovechkin scored his career’s 875th goal against the Kraken, causing a bit of uproar in the community.

With the 39-year-old, 20 goals away from the all-time record of the Great One, the match between the two teams at Climate Pledge Arena was indeed a home game for the Washington Capitals, and the team wanted to continue their point streak in the current NHL season, which was 11 before their match against the Seattle Kraken. So how did they fare?

The first period of the NHL match saw no goals from either of the teams, causing a bit of concern for the Capitals’ fans, as they thought that their team might be struggling. However, the men in white and red have consistently excelled in the second period of NHL games, proving the statistics correct. Coming to the next period, whatever Capitals’ Aliaksei Protas did was dramatic, as he shot the puck, which was saved by Kraken’s goaltender Joey Daccord, but he inadvertently directed the puck toward the net, causing an own goal.

This did give the home team the confidence they required, as in the same period, Capitals’ Ethen Frank scored with 2 minutes remaining in the section of the match. The third period saw no goals until the Kraken decided to go full offensive by removing their goaltender, and this open net gave Alexander Ovechkin an opportunity to snipe a goal from the opposite side of the rink and score his 875th career goal, as with this he became just 20 goals behind breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record, as seen in the video posted by the official NHL X profile.

Indeed, this particular goal was one of the highlights of the match between the Capitals and the Kraken, where the home team emerged victorious with a score of 3-0. However, it also caught a lot of criticism on the internet, followed by the social media post. Why so? It was an open-net goal, and obviously, without the goaltender defending, it’s easy to score such goals to close in on the records, and Gretzky’s fans were just not happy with the way Ovechkin is approaching the historic 895th goal of his career.

Fans not ready to accept him chasing Wayne Gretzky’s record

Even though Alexander Ovechkin is 20 goals away from Wayne Gretzky’s record, many of the Great One’s fans aren’t ready to accept him due to such empty netters. One fan stated, “Empty net merchant.” Similarly, another fan pointed out a statistic of the Russian NHL player, stating, “That’s like his 10th empty netter this season.” Another fan made a cheeky response, stating, “Alex Ovechkin the moment he sees the opponent’s goalie heading to the bench.”

It’s not an uncommon sight that Ovechkin gave under scrutiny from the fanbase. Indeed, he has always been opportunistic on the ice, and many times whenever there’s something that he can make the most out of, he never shies away from taking it. Example? Before the Capitals’ game with the Edmonton Oilers, Ovechkin shared a cheeky statement after learning about their captain Connor McDavid’s three-game match suspension, stating, “Sucks for him. Good for us. We’ll take it.” 

Ovechkin knew that without the #97 on the ice, it would be a pressurized moment for the Oilers, and indeed, the Capitals emerged victorious against them with a score of 3-2 and also made their 11-point streak, closing in on the franchise’s historic performance. And when he saw the open net in the third period of the Capitals’ match against the Kraken, he couldn’t hold himself back but to make the most out of the opportunity he had to score. But he will never get away from such allegations, as one fan stated, “It’s always an empty net goal.” Another frustrated fan stated, “He should not be allowed to tie or break it with an empty netter!” One user stated, “How many of these are open net bullsh*t goals? My lord. Score a decent one.”

Controversy has always surrounded the Russian NHL. However, the rules in the NHL never mentioned that an open net goal wouldn’t be considered a goal or wouldn’t be added to the scorer’s statistics. Ovechkin has always put up a masterclass whenever the Capitals required him, and only time will tell when he will surpass Gretzky in the goal tally.