NBCSN’s coverage of the 2019-20 NHL season continues with Monday’s matchup between the Washington Capitals and Vegas Golden Knights. Coverage begins at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.
Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin is still searching for goal no. 700. Since scoring a hat trick against the Los Angeles Kings on Feb. 4 (those three goals got him to 698), he hasn’t been able to find the back of the net since. Can he reach the milestone against Vegas tonight?
Ovechkin’s goal drought is at a season-long four games. Clearly, the offense was bound to dry up at some point because he couldn’t keep rolling at the pace he was on. The Capitals captain had scored 14 goals in his previous seven games before the slump. This is still unfortunate timing with the entire hockey world watching and waiting though.
Eventually, he’ll become the eighth player to hit the 700-goal mark. He’ll be joining: Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Jaromir Jagr, Brett Hull, Marcel Dionne, Phil Esposito and Mike Gartner.
If it doesn’t happen against Vegas, he’ll have an opportunity to get it on home ice against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night. If that doesn’t work out, he’ll get a road game in New Jersey on Saturday afternoon and a primetime NBC matchup on Sunday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
All we, as hockey fans, can do is wait patiently for him to get going offensively again.
By comparison, let’s see how long the other members of the 700-goal club waited to hit that mark:
• Wayne Gretzky:
He scored his 700th career goal while he was a member of the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 3, 1991. In a game against the New York Islanders, Gretzky managed to beat Glenn Healy with a backhander in the first period.
Gretzky’s 699th goal was scored against the Montreal Canadiens at the Montreal Forum on Dec. 29, 1990. He only had to sit on 699 for two games before he finally hit the milestone.
• Gordie Howe:
Howe scored his 700th goal of his career on Dec. 4, 1968 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Getting boxscores from the 60’s is a little difficult, but thanks to this Sports Illustrated article, we know that Howe scored no. 699 on Thanksgiving night in 1968 (Nov. 28) against Glenn Hall and the St. Louis Blues. So in all, it took him two games to score no. 700 (he was held scoreless against the Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 1).
• Jaromir Jagr:
Jagr scored his milestone marker on Mar. 1 2014, while playing for the New Jersey Devils. He scored no. 700 against the New York Islanders on a Sunday. The goal, which was assisted by Travis Zajac and Andy Greene, was his 19th of that season. Goal no. 699 came against Columbus in the previous game, which means Jagr didn’t drag out the process at all.
• Brett Hull:
Hull reached the 700 goal on Feb. 10, 2003 when he was a member of the Detroit Red Wings. The hall-of-fame sniper was going through a bit of a dry spell when he scored no. 700, as he was in the middle of a seven-game goal drought when he finally found the back of the net. That can’t be fun.
• Marcel Dionne:
On Oct. 31, 1987, Dionne beat New York Islanders goalie Kelly Hrudey from a very difficult angle to score his 700th career goal. Sure, the Rangers ended up losing the game 8-2, but that doesn’t really matter. Dionne’s goal came with just 33 seconds remaining in the game and it wasn’t the prettiest one he had ever scored. Dionne scored no. 699 against the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 23, 1987. It took him almost four full games to reach the milestone.
• Phil Esposito:
Esposito was in the exact same position Ovechkin is in right now. He was two goals away from 700 heading into a game against the Washington Capitals on Feb. 2, 1980. Esposito, who was with the Rangers at the time, scored no. 699 on the power play in the second period. Early in the third frame, he managed to find the back of the net again. The difference between Esposito and Ovechkin is that Esposito scored his 698th goal in the previous game. He wasted no time getting no. 700 out of the way.
• Mike Gartner:
Gartner, like Ovechkin and Esposito was two goals away from no. 700 on the night he reached that incredible mark. He did it against the Detroit Red Wings on Dec. 14, 1997. Gartner opened the scoring in the first period for 699 and he added the game-tying goal on the power play in the third frame. But like Esposito, Gartner didn’t waste any time once he hit 698, as he scored that one in the previous game.
--
Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.