Given his age, the team he plays on, his history of not missing much time to injury, as well as his overall skill and passion for the game – yes, Ovechkin can very well pass Gretzky in the record books.
As many felt at one point that breaking Gretzky’s record of 894 was impossible, many now feel it is inevitable.
The biggest shock is that Ovechkin’s goal-scoring prowess has gotten stronger as he ages. The closer he gets to the record, the faster he seems to accumulate goals. It’s his passion that drives him. It is a goal that he very much wants to achieve.
It took the ‘Great 8’ 189 games to go from 500 to 600 goals yet only 150 to go from 600 to 700.
Ovechkin is also only one 40-goal season behind Gretzky. Ovechkin reached 40 goals for the 11th time this season and is the only player to reach that milestone playing for just one NHL team. A big reason for this is his ability to score multiple times per game.
Ovechkin currently has the eighth-most hat-tricks in NHL history – a statistic that he actually ranks above Gretzky in. He also feels the pressure when losing and knows how to amp up his game even further.
Another stat he bests Wayne in is game-winning goals. Ovechkin has 110 game-winners to his credit, which is the fourth-most in league history.