Alex Ovechkin hit a milestone on Sunday night, slamming home a second-period power play goal to give the Capitals a 5-1 lead over the Senators. That goal was Ovechkin's 500th, making him the 43rd player to reach the milestone. He received a standing ovation and the crowd, which included his parents, howled in appreciation.
The 30-year-old phenomenon was not done yet though, as he added goal number 501 during the third period, to make the game 7-1. This pushed him to 42nd on the all time goal scorers list, according to Hockey Reference.
"He is one of a kind. I admire what he does because he's a pure goal scorer," Brett Hull told the AP in a phone interview, according to the Canadian Press.
How far can Ovechkin go, though? As it stands, the Russian is the fifth-fastest player to reach the 500-goal mark.
Ovechkin 5th fastest #NHL player to 500 goals: 1. Gretzky (575 GP) 2. Lemieux (605) 3. Bossy (647) 4. Brett Hull (693) 5. Ovechkin (801)
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) January 11, 2016
Sitting at third in career goals scored among active players, Ovechkin (501 goals in 801 games) has played significantly less games than Jaromir Jagr (737 goals in 1,589 games), and Jarome Iginla (601 goals in 1,435 games), the only two active players ahead of him.
It's clear that Ovechkin's goal-per-game ratio is amazing. He has scored 0.625 goals per game since he entered the league in the 2005-06 season, good enough for fifth all-time, and even better than Wayne "the Great One" Gretzky, who scored 0.601 goals per game. Projecting to the end of this season, he should add to his scoring tally, ending the season with around 526 career goals, placing him 33rd on the all-time list.
Projecting until his Capitals contract expires at the end of the 2020-21 season, assuming he stays healthy, there would be another 410 regular season games, resulting in an additional 256 goals, giving him 782 overall, and placing him third on the all-time list, behind Wayne Gretzky with 894 goals, and Gordie Howe, with 801 goals. Jaromir Jagr is currently fourth on the list, and continues scoring goals, so his tally will undoubtedly rise as well.
While it is unlikely the Russian hockey magician will continue to score at the same rate while he gets older, he is still objectively one of the greatest goal scorers of any NHL era, and even if his goal scoring productivity halves, he will still be within legendary company on the all-time scoring list.
