Last night against Tampa Bay, in a 6-3 victory, Our Hero scored his 50th and 51st goals of the 2018-19 season, with three games to go. (Only three??! Where did the season go??!)
01 - Wayne Gretzky - 894 G in 1487 GP +236
02 - Gordie Howe - 801 G in 1767 GP +144
03 - Jaromír Jágr - 765 G in 1714 GP +107
04 - Brett Hull - 741 G in 1269 GP + 84
05 - Marcel Dionne - 731 G in 1348 GP + 74
06 - Phil Esposito - 717 G in 1282 GP + 58
07 - Mike Gartner - 708 G in 1432 GP + 50
08 - Mark Messier - 694 G in 1756 GP + 36
09 - Steve Yzerman - 692 G in 1514 GP + 34
10 - Mario Lemieux - 690 G in 915 GP + 32
11 - Teemu Selänne - 684 G in 1451 GP + 26
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12 - Luc Robataille - 667 G in 1431 GP + 9 not likely
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13 - Alex Ovechkin - 658 G in 1079 GP
13 - Brendan Shanahan - 656 G in 1431 GP
Ovi is now in sole possession of 13th place all time. While it's not likely that he gets nine goals in the next three games, and I wouldn't bet on it, I wouldn't bet against it, either, given it's Ovi. I've learned not to bet against the Great 8.
As both RMNB and Japers' pointed out this last week, Ovi has had a remarkably consistent career: 328 goals in his first 540 games, 328 goals in his second 540 games. And as Twitter Tweeter @caleb_adams3 pointed out:
Gretzky's record: 894 goals
Swap Gretzky's 8 and 9 and what do you get? 984 goals
Ovi's new record: 328 * 3 = 984 goals
'Tis the prophecy. @caleb_adams3
If Ovi manages to play in another 540 games (535 games beyond the end of this season - that's roughly another 6-1/2 seasons) and scores 328 goals in that time period, the League will bow to him, and so will every mother's son on this planet, as the undisputed GOAT.
As of today, Ovi is tied with Luc Robataille with 247 power play goals for 4th all time.
01 - Dave Andreychuk - 274 PPG in 1639 GP +27
02 - Brett Hull - 265 PPG in 1269 GP +18
03 - Teemu Selanne - 255 PPG in 1451 GP + 8
04 - Alex Ovechkin - 247 PPG in 1081 GP
In other milestones:
Nicklas Backstrom scored his 20th and 21st goals of the season last night, and T.J. Oshie scored his 24th and 25th goals of the season. Backstrom is the 7th Capital to score at least 20 goals this year (Kuznetsov-20, Backstrom-21, Connolly-22, Wilson-22, Vrana-23, Oshie-25, and Ovi-51). Not a bad haul, and though Carlson, with 13, is about as likely to hit 20 as Ovi is to hit 60, with only three games left... well, if they did it, it'd be one hell of a feat, wouldn't it?
Last night, facing Carolina, Ovi bagged his 49th goal of the season. He's tied Brendan Shanahan, with five games to go in the regular season. Next game is also Carolina, on Thursday.
01 - Wayne Gretzky - 894 G in 1487 GP +238
02 - Gordie Howe - 801 G in 1767 GP +145
03 - Jaromír Jágr - 765 G in 1714 GP +109
04 - Brett Hull - 741 G in 1269 GP + 85
05 - Marcel Dionne - 731 G in 1348 GP + 75
06 - Phil Esposito - 717 G in 1282 GP + 61
07 - Mike Gartner - 708 G in 1432 GP + 52
08 - Mark Messier - 694 G in 1756 GP + 38
09 - Steve Yzerman - 692 G in 1514 GP + 36
10 - Mario Lemieux - 690 G in 915 GP + 34
11 - Teemu Selänne - 684 G in 1451 GP + 28
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12 - Luc Robataille - 667 G in 1431 GP + 11 not likely
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13 - Alex Ovechkin - 656 G in 1079 GP
13 - Brendan Shanahan - 656 G in 1431 GP
The playoffs are starting to shape up, just a teensy bit.
I started my spreadsheet today, as I typically do this time of year. I would not bet on Ottawa, Detroit, or the Devils from New Jersey making the playoffs this year. I also wouldn't bet on the Ducks or the Kings, who have a handful more points than the basement-dwelling Sens.
Poor, hapless Ottawa has played 68 games, and have only 52 points to show for it. Their 23-39-6 record is bad enough to put them in last place. The Kings aren't doing much better, at 24-35-8 in 67 games played (56 points). But when it comes to goal differential, Anaheim is the one in the basement, with -58.
Ouch.
The Caps have come a long way from 1974-75 with their 8-67-5 record. That season, the Caps scored 181 goals, and were scored on 446 times. They hold the record, one they never wanted, for the worst start in the NHL.
The question this year is, can they go back to back, win another Stanley Cup?
If the playoffs started today...
Cripes. This playoff format stinks!
"The top seed in each division plays one of the wild-card teams in its conference. The division leader with the most points plays the wild-card team with the fewest points. The second and third seeds in each division face each other in the first round." (S/T ESPN.com).
Tampa Bay is hands down the top seed in the Eastern Conference, and in the Atlantic Division. That gives them Montreal, currently 8th seed.
The Islanders are top seed in the Metropolitan Division. That gives them Carolina, currently the 7th seed.
Boston gets Toronto... Which sticks the Caps with the Penguins, ugh!
14 games remaining. 28 possible points.
The first of those is tonight, when the Caps face the Devils.
New Jersey is, quite frankly, in trouble, injury-wise.
- Pavel Zacha (C, 11G, 6A) is out from an upper-body injury.
- John Quenneville ((C, 0G, 0A), first cousin, once removed of Joel) is day-to-day, with a hand injury.
- Kevin Rooney (C, 4G, 2A) is day-to-day, illness.
- Nico Hischier (C, 17G, 27A) is day-to-day, upper body.
- Kyle Palmieri (RW, 26G, 22A) is day-to-day, lower body.
- Nathan Bastian (RW, 1G, 0A) has an upper body injury.
- Jesper Bratt (LW, 8 G, 25A) is out, lower body.
- Taylor Hall (LW, 11G, 26A) is out, knee surgery.
- Miles Wood (LW, 8G, 13A) is out, fractured ankle.
- Mirco Mueller (D, 1G, 9A) is out, upper body (shoulder).
- Will Butcher (D, 4G, 20A) is day-to-day, upper body.
In a word? Ouch!
So, for centers, the Devils have:
- Blake Coleman, 18G, 12A
- Michael McLeod, 0G, 0A
- Travis Zajac, 15G, 23A
By contrast, the Caps are icing their full roster. So, will they take the Devils seriously? Or will they coast. It's a damned good question...
All About the Jersey calls Ovi the "Great Ape."
*narrows eyes* We shall see. We. Shall. See.
As a side note, I truly wish that Miroslav Satan had played at least one game for the Devils before he retired. He'd have been their natural captain!
