Ovechkin, who is in his 18th NHL season, has three more seasons left on his contract after this one to catch Gretzky and, potentially, extend the record total beyond 900 goals. "There's that open a bit of ice that either you have a feel for it or a knack for it or you don't, and Alex definitely has a feel for that." But if you watch closely with Alex and Brett and Mike Bossy, they don't miss the net and they knew to find that open area where you're sort of between the defenseman and the forward. "Many times guys have great opportunities and before you know it, the puck is going around the boards and out the other side. "A couple guys that I saw in my career, Mike Bossy, Brett Hull, two of the most prolific scorers I ever saw, and one of the things that the three of them have in common is they don't miss a net very often," Gretzky said. Ovechkin scored 50 goals at age 36 last season, becoming the oldest player to reach the milestone. It would be the 10th time he scored at least 50, breaking the NHL record he shares with Gretzky and Mike Bossy. With 29 goals in 41 games, the 37-year-old is on pace to score 57 this season. Ovechkin scored six goals in the Capitals' final four games of 2022, including his 30th NHL hat trick in a 9-2 victory against the Montreal Canadiens on New Year's Eve. It's a positive and I think that it couldn't happen to a better person. "We said a year ago that it's a matter of when he's going to do it. "I think we're past the point of if he's going to do it," Gretzky said before working as an analyst on TNT's telecast of the 2023 Discover Winter Classic at Fenway Park in Boston on Monday. Ovechkin hasn't stopped scoring since, increasing his total to 809, 85 behind Gretzky, when he extended his goal streak to four games in Washington's 6-2 win at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday. So, seeing Ovechkin score his 802nd goal to pass Gordie Howe and move into second in NHL history on Dec.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |