[10-APR-2016] It's the end of the regular season road...

As-predicted several months ago, his hat trick against the St. Louis Blues puts Ovi in sole possession of the 33rd slot overall for career goals scored. He reached that 525 career goals mark in his 839th career game. It took Brian Trottier 1279 games to reach the 524 goal mark. Since Ovi would need to score 8 goals tonight to catch Francis Mahovlich, I'm projecting he will end the season in 33rd place overall for goals scored (unless he somehow pulls off The Ovechtrick... (not bloody likely!)  Joe Malone's 1920 record 7 goals in one game has been standing for damned close to 100 years. If anyone in the NHL could break that standing record, it'd be Ovi.*-

#OviWatch

525 career goals in 839 career games is quite the mark. If Ovi gets 50 goals next season, he will hit 575 career goals. I am right now predicting that Ovi will have no fewer than 45 goals next season, which will put him at 570 career goals, just ahead of Mats Sundin, and just behind Mike Bossy. 53 goals (minus however many he scores tonight against Anaheim) will put him ahead of Mark Recchi for #20 overall. As I've said all season, we'll see what happens!

20 - Mark Recchi - 577 goals in 1652 games played
21 - Mike Bossy - 573 goals in 752 games played
22 - Mats Sundin - 564 goals in 1346 games played
23 - Joe Nieuwendyk - 564 goals in 1257 games played
24 - Mike Modano - 561 goals in 1499 gams played
25 - Guy Laflueur - 560 goals in 1126 games played
26 - John Bucyk - 556 goals in 1731 games played
27 - Ron Francis - 549 goals in 1731 games played
28 - Michel Goulet - 544 goals in 1089 games played
29 - Maurice Richard - 544 goals in 978 games played
30 - Stan Mikita - 541 goals in 1394 games played
31 - Keith Tkachuk - 538 goals in 1201 games played
32 - Francis Mahovlich - 533 goals in 1181 games played
33 - Alex Ovechkin - 525 goals in 839 games played

#HoltBEASTWatch

Braden Holtby has tied Marty Brodeur's single season win record. The next record of Brodeur's that he could potentially topple is the youngest player to 300 career regular season wins. Brodeur achieved that record at 29 years, 7 months. Holtby was born on 16-Sep-1989, making him at present 26 years, 6 months old. He has played in 244 career games (started 236) and has 149 wins in that span. That leaves him needing to win another 152 games over the next three years to pass Brodeur. That's going to take some doing... A lot of doing... 

2016-17 - 51
2017-18 - 51
2018-19 - 50

We'll see what happens. Holtby's wins are not his alone; he has to have a team playing well in front of him, too. Coach Trotz and Coach Korn are both great coaches, so I'll still call it possible. It's possible.

#TeamWatch

1995-96 Detroit Red Wings (62W in 82 GP)

2005-06 Detroit Red Wings (58W in 82 GP)

2015-16 Washington Capitals  (56W in 82 GP)  

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)

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)  

[04-APR-2016] Four to go... #HoltBEASTWatch #OviWatch etc.

The Caps are down to their last four games of the regular season... 

• Tomorrow, they face the New York Islanders at home.  
• Thursday, it's the hated Penguins, also at the Phone Booth. 
• Saturday, they go to St. Louis to take on the Blues. 
• And Sunday, it's back home to finish up against the Anaheim Ducks.

The Isles are currently the #1 wildcard in the eastern conference, closely followed by the Flyers. The Isles have a 42-26-9 record (93 points) and a game in hand on the Flyers, whose record is 39-26-13. Boston (41-30-8) is chasing Philadelphia. It's still possible for the Islanders to overtake the Rangers (43-26-9), for the third spot in the Metro division, but it seems unlikely anyone will unseat Pittsburgh from their #2 spot. Those flightless fowl have come a long way since the beginning of the season and sacking of their coach. Let's hope our coach is smarter than theirs. 

Shut out by the 'Yotes (with Grubauer in net), unless Holtby doesn't win two of the four remaining games, Brodeur's record will stand. He'll need to win three to reach 50 wins. It's a tall order, especially with the last two games of the season being back-to-back. None of these teams we're facing are going to be pushovers... 

#HoltBEASTWatch

 








47 wins in 63 games played-in. Holtby is now in sole possession of the #2 slot on the goalie single season wins chart. Fingers are crossed very, very hard.

01 - 2006-07: Martin Brodeur (48W in 78GP) V*
02 - 2015-16: Braden Holtby (47W in 61GP) 

#OviWatch

Our beloved Captain scored a goal against the Avalanche, bringing his total to 520 career goals in 836 games played. He needs two goals in four games to tie Pat Verbeek, four goals to tie Brian Trottier, and five goals to take sole possession of the #33 spot on the all-time goal-scorers list. Earlier this year, I had him scoring 50 goals; he's at 45, so it'll be close. 

33 - Brian Trottier - 524 G, 1279 GP
34 - Pat Verbeek - 522 G, 1424 GP
35 - Alex Ovechkin - 518 G, 830 GP  

We're coming down to the wire now...