Alex Ovechkin just can’t be stopped right now

Credit: Apr 11, 2024; Buffalo, New York, USA; Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) during a stoppage in play against the Buffalo Sabres during the third period at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

Some went into the 2024-25 NHL regular season wondering if Alex Ovechkin was showing signs of slowing down. After a 31-goal campaign in 2023-24 that saw him go long stretches without any offense, were we seeing the No. 2 all-time goal scorer wind down?

Not a chance. Now 17 games into this current campaign, Ovechkin is on fire, scoring 13 times. On Sunday, the Washington Capitals’ superstar recorded a hat trick in a 5-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights, another impressive performance for one of the game’s greatest.

On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss Ovechkin’s hot start and how it’s a matter of when, not if, he breaks Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Ovechkin piled three more with a hat trick over the Golden Knights last night, and man, the run he’s on is insane. We’ve gone from “is there a chance he breaks Wayne Gretzky’s record this year?” to “he’s definitely breaking it this year, right?” and up to, “Alright, start picking the game. When’s the record he’s going to break it?”

Ovechkin is now 29 goals away, and every performance he has like this one, it continues to make it easier and easier. Will he get it by Februrary? It’s crazy this run he’s on, he looks like Vintage Ovie.

Frank Seravalli: Ovechkin has turned back the clock. To see him with this kind of energy and this kind of pace to his game, and not just his goal-scoring pace, has been totally surprising.

Look, you’re right: we’re almost at the point where we -can pick the dates where Gretzky is going to need to gas up the jet and fly in-and-out for Ovechkin’s games, but I think one of the cool, under-reported stories behind the scenes has been how encouraging Gretzky has been through this entire process. Ovechkin mentioned not long ago that whenever he was in a slump, he’d get a text from Gretzky saying, “Keep going, you’re going to get there,” and I think that speaks to the hockey fraternity.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…