Ovechkin’s snapshot from the top of the left faceoff circle beat Ottawa goaltender Andrew Hammond on the glove side to give the Capitals a commanding 5-1 lead. Only Wayne Gretzky (575), Mario Lemieux (605), Mike Bossy (647) and Brett Hull (741) scored 500 goals in fewer than 800 games, while Phil Esposito scored his 500th in his 803rd game.
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The Russian sniper has six 50-goal seasons since entering the National Hockey League in 2005-06 and scored a career-high 65 goals in the 2007-08 season.
In the aftermath of Alex Ovechkin’s 500th goal January 10, after the din and buzz and joy had slowly dissipated from a raucous Verizon Center, Capitals forward Justin Williams tried to wrap his mind around what his teammate had accomplished and how much there was still left to be said about one of the game’s greatest players. He’s been named an All-Star in each of his 11 seasons and was voted a captain for this year’s All-Star game.
Washington has won four straight overall and 10 consecutive home games. “I admire what he does because he’s a pure goal scorer”.
Panthers 2, Oilers 1: Jaromir Jagr got his 737th career goal and Al Montoya made 24 saves to help visiting Florida extend its franchise-record winning streak to 12 games. His longtime linemate Nicklas Backstrom didn’t assist on number 500, but he’s assisted on 184 of Ovechkin’s 501 goals (including number 501).
Corey Crawford stopped 34 shots for the Blackhawks and Semyon Varlamov allowed four goals on 20 shots before he was replaced by Calvin Pickard, who stopped 13 of 15 shots in relief for the Avalanche.
New Jersey’s Jon Merrill put the Devils ahead in the third period with his first goal of the season and the visitors hung on to beat Minnesota 2-1. That score was Parise’s first against his former team. Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson did not play but in his next game, he’ll try for his 200th career victory….
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Corey Perry collected his 16th goal for the Ducks, who took their second loss in three games.
