[24-MAR-2016] Well, THAT was a little patch of the ugly...!

With ten games left, Captain Chaos (AKA Alex Ovechkin) needs seven more goals to hit 50 goals on the year. Two nights ago, he scored his 518th goal in 830 career games.
#OviWatch

With 518 goals in 830 games, Ovi puts himself in a tie with Dale Hawerchuk for the 35th-best goal scorer of all time. With four more goals, he will tie Pat Verbeek, and with six, he will tie Brian Trottier. Earlier this season, I projected Ovi to surpass Trottier's total, but a nagging lower-body injury could prevent that. I'll modify my expectations to figure he will at least catch Verbeek, and hope for the best in the last ten games. Usually, when Ovi scores, he scores in bunches, so here's hoping!

33 - Brian Trottier - 524 G, 1279 GP
34 - Pat Verbeek - 522 G, 1424 GP
35 - Alex Ovechkin - 518 G, 830 GP
35 - Dale Hawerchuk - 518 G, 1188 GP
37 - Pierre Turgeon - 515 G, 1294 GP
38 - Jeremy Roenick - 513 G, 1363 GP
39 - Gilbert Perreault - 512 G, 1191 GP
40 - Jean Béliveau - 507 G, 1125 GP
41 - Peter Bondra - 503 G, 1081 GP
42 - Joe Mullen - 502 G, 1062 GP
43 - Lanny McDonald - 500 G, 1111 GP
44 - Glenn Anderson - 498 G, 1129 GP   

#HoltBEASTWatch

Braden Holtby, on the other hand, only needs to win half the remaining games to surpass Martin Brodeur's single-season record of 48. Here's where the HoltBEAST stands:

Apart from a 6-2 drubbing at the hands of the Flightless Fowl, Holtby's SV% had been trending the right direction of late. His current .921 is well off the pace he set earlier in the season, and he sits in 7th place in that regard, league-wide, among goalies who have played in 40 or more games this season.

As for his 2.25 Goals-Against Average.... we won't talk about that part. Yuck. 17th in the league isn't pretty, but the win column is... 10 games to go.

01 - 2006-07: Martin Brodeur (48W in 78GP) V*
02 - 2007-08: Evgeni Nabokov (46W in 77GP) V*
03 - 2008-09: Mikka Kiprusoff (45W in 65GP)
       2009-10: Martin Brodeur (45W in 77GP) J*
04 - 2015-16: Braden Holtby (44W in 59GP)
       2014-15: Carey Price (44W in 66GP) J* V*
       1974-75: Bernie Parent (44W in 68GP) V*

#KuzyaWatchin'

While Kuzya didn't catch Datsyuk yet, he did record a couple of primary assists in the last few games. He now has 41 in 71 games played, 6th overall for the single season. He has 10 games left to record 10 primary assists to catch Crosby's 51...

 






2008-09: Sid Crosby (51 in 77 GP)
2009-10: Henrik Sedin (46 in 82 GP)
2010-11: Martin St. Louis (46 in 82 GP)
2011-12: Evgeni Malkin (46 in 75 GP)
2007-08: Pavel Datsyuk (44 in 82 GP)
2015-16: Evgeny Kuznetsov (41 in 71 GP)
2013-14: Joe Thornton (36 in 82 GP)
2014-15: Daniel Sedin (35 in 82 GP)
2012-13: Sid Crosby (29 in 36 GP - season shortened by lockout)

#Roaring20s


TJ Oshie (21) - career best is 21 in 2013-14 (tied)
Justin Williams (21) - career best is 33 in 2006-07 
Evgeny Kuznetsov (20) - already his career best (11 last season) 
Nicklas Backstrom (18) - career best is 33 in 2009-10
Jason Chimera (18) - career best is 20 in 2011-12 
Marcus Johansson (15) - career best is 20 in 2014-15 
Andre Burakovsky (15) - already his career best (9 last season)

#CapsWatch

Well, the Caps will have to go 10-0-0 to catch Detroit's 1995-96 62 wins... but they could definitely catch the 2010-11 Vancouver's 54 (with two more wins) and could potentially catch the 2005-06 Red Wings' 58 (with six)... 

 


1995-96 Detroit Red Wings (62W)
2005-06 Detroit Red Wings (58W)
2010-11 Vancouver Canucks (54W in 82 GP) 2013-14 Boston Bruins (54W in 82 GP)
2013-14 Anaheim Ducks (54W in 82 GP)
2007-08 Detroit Red Wings (54W in 82 GP)
2009-10 Washington Capitals (54W in 82 GP)
2014-15 New York Rangers (53W in 82GP)
2005-06 Dallas Stars (53W in 82GP)
2008-09 Boston Bruins (53W in 82GP)
2015-16 Washington Capitals  (52W in 72GP) 
2005-06 Ottawa Senators (52W in 82GP) 
2000-01 Colorado Avalanche (52W in 82GP)  
2005-06 Buffalo Sabres (52W in 82GP)  
2009-10 Chicago Blackhawks (52W in 82GP)  
2005-06 Carolina Hurricanes (52W in 82GP)  
2013-14 Colorado Avalanche (52W in 82GP)       

We'll just have to see what happens...