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Ovechkin continues ascent up the NHL’s goal-scoring list

Pittsburgh Penguins v Washington Capitals - Game Five

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 06: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals scores at 7:47 of the third period against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Verizon Center on May 6, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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Alex Ovechkin likes record books, presumably because he likes re-writing them with his name all over the place.

The Washington Capitals captain had two goals through two periods against the Toronto Maple Leafs, his 574rd and 575th, which moved Ovechkin from beside Mike Bossy in a tie for 21st place, into sole possession of the spot on the NHL’s all-time goal-scoring list.

Update: Ovechkin added an empty-net for his 20th career hat trick, tying him with Pavel Bure for most ever by a Russian-born player.

The goal to take sole possession was vintage Ovi, complete with booing fans as a soundtrack:

And here is his second goal of the game, also vintage Ovi:

With the hat trick, Ovechkin moved himself to within a goal of a tie for 20th with Mark Recchi, who sits in the 20th spot with 577 career goals.

The goal scoring is pretty incredible in its own right, Ovechkin has four markers in his past three games, and then this little nugget popped up on Twitter:

That’s insane.

But wait, there’s more:

Isn’t hockey fun?


Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck