Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin moves to 11th all-time in NHL points

The GR8 continues to fit his nicknamesake.

On Sunday, in a game against the Utah Hockey Club, Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin notched the 1,591st point of his NHL career, moving to 11th all-time in NHL scoring.

Ovechkin notched the point with a secondary assist on Pierre-Luc Dubois’ power-play goal in the latter half of an exciting first period.

It was the 39-year-old’s 15th assist of the season, extending his current point streak to five games.

Ovechkin surpasses Hockey Hall of Famer and two-time Stanley Cup champion Phil Esposito on the all-time points list. The Russian winger now sits 50 points back of another multi-time Cup champion, Joe Sakic (1,641) for 10th. It was the 712th helper of Ovechkin’s tenure.

While the milestone is another notch in Ovechkin’s illustrious career, it’s far from the most essential mark he’s chasing this season. With 26 goals on the 2024-25 campaign, the nine-time Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy winner has 879 goals in his career, just 16 away from surpassing Wayne Gretzky for the most goals in NHL history.

Though an injury earlier this season slowed down a fiery start for Ovechkin, he has 27 more games to reach Gretzky’s previously untouchable mark of 894 goals this season. Given the fact that Ovi is averaging 0.68 goals per game, there is a really good chance history can be made before the end of the regular season.

Since getting first overall by the Caps in the 2004 NHL Draft, Ovechkin has turned the franchise around and, in a way, revolutionized the game. His scoring prowess was enhanced by the NHL’s new style of play coming out of the 2004-05 lockout. It has led to Ovi winning the Art Trophy in 2007-08, and becoming a three-time Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award winner.

The Capitals (36-11-7) came into Sunday with the best record in the Eastern Conference, eight points ahead of the Florida Panthers.